Bloomberg claims, citing its own sources that the Kremlin and the Russian government have estimated the Russian cryptocurrency market at $214 billion. This assessment is used during the development of a plan to regulate the industry.
The volume of cryptocurrency held by Russians was calculated in January 2022 by analyzing the IP addresses of major cryptocurrency exchange users and other information. The agency writes that the estimate may be an underestimate because many traders hide their activities.
In November 2021, the Central Bank of Russia estimated the annual volume of transactions of Russians with digital assets at $5 billion. The data were obtained based on the results of a survey of large banking organizations in July 2021. The Central Bank also noted that Russian users are among the most active participants in the digital currency market. Russia is among the leaders in the number of visits to digital currency exchanges.
Later, during the parliamentary hearings, Anatoly Aksakov, head of the State Duma Committee on Financial Market, estimated investments of Russian residents in cryptocurrencies at $194 million. Aksakov stressed that unqualified investors are also interested in digital assets, so the authorities need to determine the position on digital assets and legislate it.
It is interesting to note that on January 20, the Central Bank published a report for public discussion, in which it proposed to ban the issuance, circulation, and exchange of cryptocurrencies in Russia, as well as the organization of these operations. The regulator also considers it necessary to ban the mining of digital assets and start monitoring the investments of Russians in cryptocurrency on foreign trading platforms.
However, after the Central Bank report, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko approved a roadmap on cryptocurrencies, which proposes the regulation of cryptocurrencies, rather than their prohibition, identification of customers, responsibility for illegal trafficking of digital assets, as well as the development of a methodology for assessing the value of cryptocurrencies.
Representatives of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Prosecutor General's Office, Rosfinmonitoring, the FSB, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Federal Tax Service, the Ministry of Finance, and the Bank of Russia participated in the development of the roadmap.
On January 26, Russian President Vladimir Putin called on the government and the Central Bank to come to a consensus on the regulation of digital assets. The Head of state said that he was familiar with the discussion concerning the regulation of cryptocurrencies.
Earlier, CySecurity News reported that the Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska criticized the Central Bank for allegedly “infantilely closing his eyes to the growing cryptocurrency market.” As an argument, the billionaire cited the actions of the US Treasury, which, according to him, invests in the crypto industry.
