Russia Is Getting Serious About Blockchain, but Remains on the Fence About Crypt

Last week, an annual forum featuring Russia’s top people from the economic sector was held in St. Petersburg, and cryptocurrencies were a hot topic there. Notably, government agents and state-controlled businesses were vocal about their interest in blockchain, but seemed to distance themselves from digital tokens.

Meanwhile, the regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies is still missing in the country, despite the fact that local authorities have been tasked to prepare the needed amendment a while ago. So, where is Russia heading in terms of crypto and blockchain?

Brief introduction to Russia’s relationship with cryptocurrencies
Russia’s stance on cryptocurrencies has been mixed and fluid, as demonstrated by how the “CryptoRuble” — the national stablecoin project — has been unfolding. First, the prospect of  using a substitute for conventional money was deemed “illegal” by financial ombuds. #moderation man Pavel Medvedev. Then, the Kremlin supposedly decided that a pet stablecoin could “minimize the amount of anonymous transactions,” or even help evade Western sanctions, thereby greenlighting the project. However, the CryptoRuble ended up on the back burner in the end, as the current status of the project is unclear. It was last mentioned in the news in January 2019, when a government official declared that it could go live “in a 2-3 years,” although the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) was acting “very conservatively” about the idea.

Cryptocurrencies at large are in a similar situation. In October 2017, President Vladimir Putin claimed that cryptocurrencies “cause serious risk” and are used for crime, citing the CBR’s decision to block websites selling digital assets. Just a month prior to that, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov argued that the authorities had to accept the idea of the digital currencies market:

“There is no sense in banning them, there is a need to regulate them.”