Russia’s main finance industry association has urged officials to reconsider a position against crypto investments in the country’s financial market strategy. The organization insists that Russians’ crypto investments should be brought out of the “grey zone” rather than restricted.
Finance industry body urges government to regulate operations with crypto assets
The Russian National Financial Association (NFA) has issued a call to revise the country’s strategy for the development of the financial market of the Russian Federation by 2030, related to investments in cryptocurrencies, RIA Novosti and Prime quoted the proposal. Told from The NFA unites more than 200 entities operating in the financial market of Russia.
The strategy now states that the Russian government and the Bank of Russia will continue to oppose the use of “monetary surrogates”, a term often employed to describe decentralized digital currencies such as bitcoin. According to the document, they carry high risks to citizens, and can hinder the implementation of macroeconomic policies aimed at creating favorable economic conditions.
The Russian finance sector’s self-regulatory body noted that operations with crypto assets remain “in the gray zone” despite the fact that Russian investments in cryptocurrencies are significant. Foreign companies and unregistered intermediaries receive revenue from such transactions, the organization commented.
The NFA envisions the option of providing Russian investors with access to digital financial assets through Russian professional market participants, as well as the possibility of creating exchange-traded mutual investment funds with cryptocurrencies for qualified investors. Additional study is required.
This offer comes from recent reports that cryptocurrency is a popular investment option for many Russians. According to the Russian Association of Cryptoeconomics, Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain (Resib), at least 17.3 million people in Russia have crypto wallets. In December, Anatoly Aksakov, head of the Financial Markets Committee in the State Duma, announced that Russian citizens have invested 5 trillion rubles (over $67 billion) in crypto.
The Bank of Russia has been a strong opponent of the legalization of cryptocurrencies in the country and seeks to restrict crypto investments by preventing card payments to recipients such as digital asset exchanges. However, estimates cited in the central bank’s own Financial Stability Overview for Q2 and Q3 of 2021 indicated that the annual volume of digital currency transactions carried out by Russian residents is around $5 billion.
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