Bank of Russia Highlights Risks of Cryptocurrency Transactions

The Bank of Russia views the widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins as a risk factor for the country’s domestic economy. This is outlined in the draft of the main directions for the development of the financial market until 2027.

The regulator once again referred to digital currencies as “monetary surrogates” and emphasized that without global regulation, the trend of their use as units of account will only intensify.

“Measures taken by individual countries may be insufficient to limit these risks within national economies due to the cross-border and extraterritorial nature [of these assets],” the document states.

The Bank of Russia categorized cryptocurrency risks as part of global macroeconomic factors.

The document has been submitted for review to the president and government, and it is also scheduled for discussion in parliamentary hearings in the State Duma.

In September, a law came into effect in Russia, allowing foreign trade settlements and cryptocurrency trading within experimental legal regimes (ELR). The central bank will act as the regulator of this activity.

The first cross-border transactions are planned to be conducted by the end of 2024.

By November, the Bank of Russia and the Ministry of Finance will prepare the necessary regulatory documents, which will define the participants involved in cryptocurrency trading within the ELR framework.