Is Russia Following China's Footsteps on the Crypto-ban?

The recent ban on cryptocurrencies by China had thrown the market into a disarray and just as it was recovering, Russia follows in China's footsteps and announced a ban on cryptocurrencies. The central bank of Russia has announced, it would be blocking all cryptocurrency exchanges, thus ensuring that the Russians can't trade cryptocurrencies.

As a few months back there were rumours that Russia will be opening up more to cryptocurrencies, the news of the ban comes as a surprise. Announcing the ban, the first deputy of the central bank, Sergey Shvetsov compared Bitcoin to a pyramid scheme and said that cryptocurrencies were dubious. He also said that there would be regulations to ensure that the cryptocurrencies are not traded the domestic market. Russia's move takes everyone by surprise as just last month, when China and South Korea were banning cryptocurrencies, Russia said that banning them was not a solution and instead, the need of the hour was regulations. Russia also struck a deal last month to create Ethereum Russia.

Taking into account the open and welcoming attitude of Russia towards digital currencies till now, one can hope that this ban is only temporary and will not last. The is a high probability of Russia imposing regulations on these currencies. We can only wait and watch what the future holds for cryptocurrency in Russia.