Russia’s Deputy Finance Minister Alexey Moiseev said on Tuesday that Russia has no plans to ban people from buying crypto-assets unlike China, Russian media Interfax reported.
Currently, Russian authorities have banned the use of cryptocurrencies as a means of payment. However, citizens are free to buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrencies, Moiseev remarked while speaking in an interview. In the translated script, he added:
“Of course, a Russian citizen can have a wallet open outside the Russian Federation, but it is operations within the Russian Federation that they will be subject to bans, I think, for the entire foreseeable future, due to the fact that this is financial sovereignty.”
Russia’s Digital Financial Assets (DFA) law passed in July 2020 made cryptocurrency transactions legal along with introducing definitions of digital financial assets (‘DFAs’) and digital currency. Currently, only civil servants have been prohibited from holding crypto assets.
Moiseev’s remarks were made keeping in mind that China issued multiple policies to ban cryptocurrency transactions.
Taking an example of Sweden, Moiseev said that he was concerned over the introduction of cryptocurrencies as a domestic payment method since it might upset the balance of the money supply.
Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the Russian parliament’s financial markets, said yesterday that restrictions on crypto investment by non-qualified investors should be considered.
He pointed out that while the virtual currency market can make big profits, there are also big risks. He argued that clear rules should be set on how to protect non-qualified investors from malicious cryptocurrency investments.
