Russia to Improve Monitoring of Cryptocurrency Transactions As Regulation Is Drawn Tighter, Says Rosfinmonitoring
Russia’s financial watchdog, Rosfinmonitoring, on Friday said it is using software to track cryptocurrency transactions and hopes to improve its capabilities, as Moscow introduces regulation of what which one legislator called “cryptomania”.
The Central Bank of Russia has long expressed skepticism about electronic moneyciting concerns about financial stability, and has advocated a complete ban on trading and mining, in contrast to the government’s interest in regulating the industry.
The head of Rosfinmonitoring Yuri Chikhanchin said that Russia has identified specific criminal cases related to cryptocurrencies and added that the agency wants to improve its system and identify transactions and blockchains currently in place. hidden.
It’s not possible to cover everything right now, Chikhanchin said, in part because not all countries are eager to regulate the industry.
“It is very difficult for crypto accounts to go into the unregulated zone and we don’t understand who is on the other end,” he said. “But I think we’ll still tackle this task.”
The blockchain technology on which cryptocurrencies are based records transactions, but not the identity of wallet owners, making them difficult to track.
Anatoly Aksakov, head of the finance committee in Russia’s lower house of parliament, on Thursday said a draft bill on regulating cryptocurrencies will be put into law in the fall.
“It’s clear that there will be strict regulation,” Aksakov said, comparing “cryptomania” to addiction in the heavily regulated gambling sector in Russia.
“The same thing needs to be done with crypto exchanges and exchanges,” he said. “The phenomenon exists and it cannot be ignored.”
The cryptocurrency industry has been on the radar of regulators, who worry that a recent meltdown in the volatile market could affect the broader financial sector.
The drop – caused by the drop of two major tokens in May – led to crypto lender Celsius halting withdrawals and crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital based in London. Singapore began to liquidate.
Russia’s central bank says it is ready to allow the use of cryptocurrencies for international payments and has approved other digital asset transactions.
Aksakov also expects crypto mining legislation to be reviewed soon, an area the government hopes to tax.
Unlike payment companies, most crypto exchanges initially rejected calls to cut off all Russian users, raising concerns among US lawmakers that digital assets number can be used to evade Western sanctions against Moscow for its actions in Ukraine.
Major exchanges said they would comply with the sanctions by blocking sanctioned users. In April, Binance Freezes deposits and trades for Russian users with crypto assets of more than 10,000 EUR (approximately Rs 8.08).
© Thomson Reuters 2022
