Russian Central Bank and the Government not on the Same Page About Digital Currencies

Russian authorities have announced that they are working on the legislation that would enable digital currencies to become a part of the Moscow stock exchange in the upcoming period. This would be a huge step towards legalizing digital currencies in the country and as the time goes by, there are more and more members of the Russian government who are for this kind of legislation as digital currency market has become a very important factor in the global economic market.

However, not all institutions in Russia are for this idea because the Russian Central Bank has published a statement on Monday in which they said that digital currencies and their derivatives should not be included in the Moscow stock exchange anytime soon. This goes completely against what the Russian government has been trying to do in the last couple of days. The Bank of Russia has listed several reasons why they believe including cryptocurrencies into the stock exchange is a bad idea.

Legal Concerns

One of those reasons is the fact that cryptocurrencies are still very much unregulated area and it is possible that many illegal activities will be legalized by including Bitcoin in the stock exchange. Countries all over the world are trying to find the right way to regulate this market in order to prevent money laundering and financing terrorism. However, many experts have debunked this claim that cryptocurrencies are being used for such activities. However, that is not enough for the Bank of Russia to consider Bitcoin as a legitimate currency.

The Bank of Russia has stated that considering there is a huge risk of circulation and the possible misuse of the cryptocurrencies, these entities shouldn’t be regarded as a viable part of the stock exchange. Another big problem that the Bank of Russia has with cryptocurrencies is the fact that almost all Bitcoin transactions are anonymous which can be used for illegal activities. However, blockchain technology keeps the record of every Bitcoin transaction and with a small effort, it is very easy to connect the digital address required for these transactions with people in real life.

Important Crossroad for Bitcoin in Russia

It will be interesting to see how the Russian government will be reacting to this statement as they have been very intent on making Bitcoin a legal method of payment. Besides that, they are also very keen on enabling investors to legally trade and invest in this cryptocurrency which is apparently something that the Bank of Russia will fight against very hard.

Currently, the Russian government is trying to find the right way to regulate the digital currency market and many experts believe that the first draft of that law will be in the procedure this fall. Presidential Press Secretary, Dmitry Peskov said in one of his press releases that it is the duty and the responsibility of the government to make digital currencies legal in the Russian Federation which is a clear indication of the opinion the head of the country has about this issue.

The country has already developed its own digital currencies trading platform called Voskhod that is also based on blockchain technology. Because of that and because of the statements from the top government’s officials, it does not seem that the Bank of Russia will be able to stop digital currencies from becoming a part of the Moscow stock exchange.