The Russian central bank released a new report for banking institutions to limit “shady” transactions. While the guidelines were for the purpose of controlling illicit money transfers, it also reportedly brought crypto ‘”exchangers” under its purview.
Banks and credit institutions were asked to note suspicious transactions executed by individuals into or out of their electronic accounts. This could include any transaction volumes that exceed 100,000 rubles, on any given day. In this context, liquidating even 1 BTC can land the investor in trouble.
If the individual is suspected of carrying out crypto-led money laundering, they could be reported. Additionally, day traders conducting too many transactions per day with their bank wallets or cards could also be marked suspicious.
This development came days after Moscow said that it was not ready for a digital currency rollout. In context of El Salvador accepting Bitcoin as legal tender, President Putin’s press secretary reportedly denied any benefits of a nationwide digital currency.
Nevertheless, Russia remained target to 2% of the cryptocurrency frauds by volume. A recent report pointed out that in H1 2021, Russia accounted for frauds to the tune of $ 30 million, or 2.2 billion rubles.
Not so long back, scammers also attempted two hacks on a local Russian government website. National news agencies suggest that the notorious attackers even advertised free Bitcoin offerings. Therefore, the government website was reportedly down with crypto phishing ads.
However, this doesn’t completely strike out the possibility of a future digital currency in Russia. The government is said to be working on a prototype platform for the digital ruble. The Central Bank reportedly plans to release draft regulations for digital currency integration, in early 2022.
While uncertainty in regulations and the Russian government’s stance on crypto still prevails, an August 2021 survey reported that a majority of Russians were interested in crypto investments. As per the report, over 77% of new investors planned to trade digital currency in the near future. While some were yet to make a decision, only 7.6% of Russians categorically denied any plans of buying cryptocurrency.
