The Russian government only wants to enable Bitcoin for foreign trade organisations, not for average Russian citizens.
Russia’s central bank is ready to allow the use of cryptocurrencies in the country, but only as part of a legal experiment, Governor Elvira Nabiullina said.
“It is possible to consider transactions through domestic authorized entities as part of an experimental legal system, but it requires appropriate legislation,” said Nabiullina at a press conference of the Bank of Russia on December 16. said.
Nabiullina pointed out that the Bank of Russia’s main objection to cryptocurrencies has always been the inability to use cryptocurrencies as payment tools. She added that central banks are also concerned about protecting investors because the crypto market is so volatile. Although Russia has not officially banned its citizens from investing in cryptocurrencies, the Bank of Russia believes that mass adoption of cryptocurrencies will inevitably lead to their use as a payment method. he explained:
“If you let the unrestricted circulation of cryptocurrencies within the nation as a tool for investment, then inescapably, with the growth of its ownership, it will be used more frequently as a form of payment. It won’t be possible to stop this.
Therefore, if implemented, Russia’s experimental regime will be used to encourage the use of cryptocurrencies there, but only “to boost foreign trade,” as Zabotkin emphasised.
The most recent information sheds some light on why the Russian central bank has been so opposed to the use of cryptocurrencies as investment instruments there.
The usage of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin for payment purposes will be outlawed by Russia’s primary crypto law, “On Digital Financial Assets,” in 2020. Although local cryptocurrency exchanges are still unregulated, the law did not forbid Russians from investing in cryptocurrencies.
