Data collected by the Central Bank of Russia shows that with the increasing capitalization of the crypto economy, the crypto transactions that Russians conduct each year are worth billions of dollars. The regulator acknowledges that Russian residents are one of the most active participants in the crypto market.

Russians are the most active crypto users, the central bank admits

The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) recently stated that its strong stance on decentralized digital currencies does indicate that the cryptocurrency business “brings significant risks to financial stability and investors and climate risks”. The warning was issued in its financial stability overview for the second and third quarters of 2021.

The monetary authorities have recognized the rapid growth of money capital This year’s digital currency market.According to its analyzeAs quoted by Forklog, investors’ increased interest in technologies such as blockchain, smart contracts, decentralized finance, and stablecoins have played a key role in the increase in crypto prices.

Financial regulators have cited various analytical studies and acknowledged that residents of the Russian Federation are one of the most active participants in the encryption field. Russians are also one of the most frequently used users of cryptocurrency platforms. In terms of the number of visits to Binance, the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, Russia is one of the leaders.

With reference to the estimates of large financial institutions surveyed in July last year, the Bank of Russia pointed out that the annual digital currency transactions conducted by Russians amounted to approximately US$5 billion. However, CBR also pointed out that the anonymous nature of cryptocurrencies helps them to be used for criminal activities such as money laundering and terrorist financing.

Central Bank, consistently Refuse The legalization of cryptocurrency as legal tender in the Russian Federation also points to other related risks, including the conversion of legal deposits into crypto assets. Due to price fluctuations, CBR believes that cryptocurrencies are unreliable as a store of value.

Regulators also worry about energy-intensive Bitcoin miningRussia has abundant energy resources and is an attractive destination for miners. Some of its provinces with very low electricity prices have been calling for regulation of the industry.More and more Moscow officials now believe that mining should legalization As an entrepreneurial activity and therefore taxed.

The Bank of Russia emphasized that overall, the relationship between the digital currency space and the traditional financial sector is still limited. But at the same time, the authorities believe that the spread of cryptocurrencies has brought more and more risks to the Russian financial market, and insisted on the need to strengthen monitoring.

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