Breaking news: Russia Rejects Cryptocurrency as Authorities Block Access to Exchanges
Russia’s central bank is leading efforts to shut Internet access to cryptocurrency exchange websites.
As local news outlet RBC reports Tuesday, Bank of Russia is working with the country’s general prosecutor to block all exchanges offering Russians the opportunity to buy and sell cryptocurrency.
“It’s obvious that when a pyramid (scheme) grows, interest in this pyramid hots up with the high rate of return,” first deputy of the central bank, Sergey Shvetsov, said during an international finance forum in Moscow.
Echoing previous comments, Shvetsov added that the pyramid description is a result of “eyeing Bitcoin’s price dynamics over the past two years.”
The move is the most sweeping yet from Russian authorities regarding cryptocurrency access for citizens, and echoes the less coordinated bans of various industry resources common until last year.
The debate as to how to handle cryptocurrency has raged throughout 2017 in Russia, with various high-profile entities giving conflicting views as to what the future will hold in terms of regulation.
This regulation is ostensibly due to go public by the end of the year.
In the meantime, not just private investors, but also the business sector faces “too high a risk” using cryptocurrency, Shvetsov said.
Financial instruments based on cryptocurrency are “impossible to support,” he continued, adding measures would be taken to “restrict” the ability of the Russian domestic market to interact with them.
It's kind of funny given that there is such a big black market in Russia and many of the people running it are either establishment or ex establishment. Those who run major rackets probably have most of their money safely offshore. The people who miss out on this are mostly those less fortunate. If you have wealth in Russia, I'm sure you also have the ability to invest in crypto and move money at will.
yes this is true..
Great article, this does seem to echo the China situation... but again something's not right... Putin appears to be for the Blockchain (as the PBOC are for NEO) - could it be both countries are merely trying to reduce the rise of crypto rather than destroy it?