Russian Finance Ministry, Central Bank to launch crypto exchange for highly qualified investors
Bnews editor
MOSCOW. April 23 (Interfax) - The Finance Ministry and the Central Bank of Russia will launch a crypto exchange for highly qualified investors, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said during an expanded ministry board meeting.
"Together with the Central Bank, we will launch a crypto exchange for highly qualified investors. This will legalize crypto assets and bring crypto operations out of the shadows. Naturally, this will not happen domestically, but as part of the operations permitted under the experimental legal regime," Siluanov said.
The law allowing the Central Bank to begin a pilot for foreign trade participants to conduct settlements in cryptocurrency came into force on September 1 last year.
On March 11, the Central Bank said that it had submitted a proposal to the government to allow cryptocurrency transactions within the experimental legal regime (ELR) for a new investor category - highly qualified investors. This status is expected to be granted to individuals whose investments in securities and deposits exceed 100 million rubles, or whose income in the previous year surpassed 50 million rubles.
"The exact parameters of what defines these highly qualified investors are not something I can specify today," Deputy Director of the Finance Ministry's Financial Policy Department Osman Kabaloev said during the Blockchain Forum.
"We are still discussing these issues. And we also expect active debate with members of parliament, since our respected colleagues have already indicated that they are interested and want to be part of this process," he said.
In a letter to the government, the Central Bank also proposed that outside of the experimental regime, all qualified investors be allowed to invest in settlement-based derivative financial instruments, securities, and digital financial assets that do not involve the delivery of cryptocurrency to the investor, but whose returns are linked to its value. At the same time, the Central Bank still does not recognize cryptocurrency as a means of payment and thus proposes introducing a ban on settlements between residents using cryptocurrency outside of the ELR, as well as establishing penalties for violating this ban.
In March, Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov said that existing exchange infrastructure could serve as the trading venue for cryptocurrency within the ELR. In addition, the possibility of allowing new players and trading platforms is being considered, but only under specific licensing conditions. The experiment is not expected to begin for at least another six months, he said.
Currently, Russian citizens are permitted to purchase and hold cryptocurrency, but its use for payments within the country is prohibited. Due to the absence of a centralized Russian crypto exchange, digital currency can only be purchased on foreign trading platforms.
