China and Turkey have recently made headlines after authorities in both countries announced nationwide crypto raids
A report by the Russian news agency yesterday According to Interfax has Russian Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev confirmed that the purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies on foreign exchanges will not be banned. However, he maintained that the current ban on the use of cryptocurrencies for payments will remain unchanged. Russia had already issued regulations prohibiting the use of cryptocurrencies to pay for goods and services in July last year.
“At the moment, I can say that the settlement of cryptocurrencies is prohibited. At the same time, citizens can buy (cryptocurrencies) and use e-wallets outside of Russia. I believe that for the time being, things will remain as they are. So far there are no plans to change anything”, he told reporters.
The report comes amid growing concern after the state sought to restrict cryptocurrency trading in recent days. Pointing to the need to protect retail investors from potential losses, Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, suggested last week that the government should adopt new laws to this end.
“Digital currencies are the subject of our increased attention, and we will try to provide maximum protection to our citizens who invest in digital assets, since it is a new tool and it is quite difficult for an inexperienced investor”Aksakov said.
With millions of institutional investors moving in the cryptocurrency markets, it is only logical to protect retail investors. If a law were implemented, as indicated by Aksakov, it would restrict trade for non-accredited investors in the country.
Aksakov’s comments follow comments made by the First Deputy governor of the Bank of Russia, Sergey Shvetsov, in September. Shvetsov said the bank is considering slowing transactions to reduce the frequency of “emotional” purchases of crypto assets. The bank director argued that such measures are necessary to protect investors in the event that crypto markets fall to zero.
The Bank of Russia remains committed to controlling the state of cryptocurrencies in the country and has taken several measures to regulate them. Last month, the central bank demanded that all local banks block all crypto wallets that exhibit suspicious activity, such as the involvement of an unusually large number of counterparties.
In Turkey, the crypto regulation scene has now pushed Coinzo to become the country’s youngest crypto exchange to close its business, apparently due to a tough approach from the president. During Monday’s announcement, Coinzo told users that it has also closed all CNZ trading pairs to avoid fluctuation effects. The exchange also told them that they had six months to transfer their balances to their personal bank accounts.