According to CoinDesk, in a report issued today, on Jan. 20, the Central Bank of Russia has suggested that mining, trading and usage of digital currencies should be marked as illegal.
Calling for a complete crypto ban
The document insists that cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and are frequently used in criminal activities, including fraud and tax evasion. Therefore, use of cryptocurrencies poses risks to the national economy by taking "real" money out of it and putting it into crypto. Besides, cryptocurrencies are hard to monitor, and regulators will have a hell of a time maintaining monetary policies over them.
Particularly, the report mentions that issuance of crypto (mining) and its circulation must be banned, as well as cryptocurrency trading on exchanges, OTC desks and P2P platforms.
Besides, no financial institutions should be allowed to invest their money into crypto assets.
Clearing space for digital ruble?
Still, Russia does not seem to be giving up on its plans to start trialing the digital ruble this year, as reported by U.Today earlier. The proposed anti-crypto policy seems quite similar to the total Chinese crypto ban imposed last year on mining and trading, while national trials of its own CBDC—the digital yuan (DCEP)—are already underway.
FSB convinces Central Bank to suggest crypto ban
According to Forklog, which cites Bloomberg, the Federal Security Bureau of Russia (FSB) has convinced the Central Bank of the country to suggest the implementation of the crypto ban in order to shut down the inflow of financing and donations to government opposition entities, including media outlets.
However, this crypto ban, if allowed, may negatively impact the $92 billion worth of digital assets stored in Russia. The percentage of this amount that is used for financing the political opposition of the government is tiny, according to Forklog, though.
Arman Shirinyan
Alex Dovbnya
