Russia Is Getting Serious About Blockchain, but Remains on the Fence About Crypt

[Goodcat49]

Last week, an annual forum featuring Russia’s top people from the economic sector was held in St. Petersburg, and cryptocurrencies were a hot topic there. Notably, government agents and state-controlled businesses were vocal about their interest in blockchain, but seemed to distance themselves from digital tokens.

Meanwhile, the regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies is still missing in the country, despite the fact that local authorities have been tasked to prepare the needed amendment a while ago. So, where is Russia heading in terms of crypto and blockchain?

Brief introduction to Russia’s relationship with cryptocurrencies
Russia’s stance on cryptocurrencies has been mixed and fluid, as demonstrated by how the “CryptoRuble” — the national stablecoin project — has been unfolding. First, the prospect of  using a substitute for conventional money was deemed “illegal” by financial ombuds. #moderation man Pavel Medvedev. Then, the Kremlin supposedly decided that a pet stablecoin could “minimize the amount of anonymous transactions,” or even help evade Western sanctions, thereby greenlighting the project. However, the CryptoRuble ended up on the back burner in the end, as the current status of the project is unclear. It was last mentioned in the news in January 2019, when a government official declared that it could go live “in a 2-3 years,” although the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) was acting “very conservatively” about the idea.

Cryptocurrencies at large are in a similar situation. In October 2017, President Vladimir Putin claimed that cryptocurrencies “cause serious risk” and are used for crime, citing the CBR’s decision to block websites selling digital assets. Just a month prior to that, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov argued that the authorities had to accept the idea of the digital currencies market:

“There is no sense in banning them, there is a need to regulate them.”

https://cointelegraph.com/news/russia-is-getting-serious-about-blockchain-but-remains-on-the-fence-about-cryptocurrencies

[Alcor]

The blockchain technology is practically appreciated and supported by almost all states. This is not surprising, since this technology is truly revolutionary and solves the problems of safe storage and use of large databases on the Internet. This is very relevant now.
As for cryptocurrency, the last few years, Russian politicians have expressed various opposing opinions and we still cannot say for sure what they are going to accept with regard to cryptocurrency.

[Senin]

It would be better if Russia treated the decentralized cryptocurrency well. If a law is finally adopted, which was previously passed on first reading and will prohibit the free use of cryptocurrency as a means of payment, then such a huge market will be practically cut off from the outside world. They promise that the law in its final version will be adopted literally the other day. I am not very optimistic about this issue.

[Fenix]

It would be better if Russia treated the decentralized cryptocurrency well. If a law is finally adopted, which was previously passed on first reading and will prohibit the free use of cryptocurrency as a means of payment, then such a huge market will be practically cut off from the outside world. They promise that the law in its final version will be adopted literally the other day. I am not very optimistic about this issue.

Yes, the attitude of the Russian government to cryptocurrency has always been controversial and confusing, if not extremely hostile. Judging by the draft law that was adopted in the first reading, Russia will be one of the worst countries in relation to cryptocurrency and citizens will not have the right to use them freely. True, while there are heated debates on this issue, however, the negative attitude towards cryptocurrency is too great.