FSB strikes deal with central bank to ban Bitcoin transactions in Russia

The FSB persuaded the head of the Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, to back a full ban on cryptocurrency transactions in Russia. Bloomberg reports, citing two unnamed sources, that a document is in ForkLog’s possession.

According to them, authorities thus intend to deprive the opposition and foreign-agent media of access to funding.

The publication suggests that the ban could affect $92 billion of digital assets held in Russia. At the same time, according to the sources, funding for the opposition and for mass media accounts for a small share of this amount.

The establishment of a regulatory framework for the crypto market is expected to be a priority of the spring session of the State Duma.

ForkLog has sent requests to the Bank of Russia and the FSB.

Earlier, Reuters, citing two sources reported on 16 December 2021 that the Bank of Russia sought to ban Russians from investing in cryptocurrencies due to the risk of financial instability.

In September, the regulator announced plans to develop a payments-blocking mechanism aimed at restricting payments to cryptocurrency exchanges and exchangers.

The current version of the ‘CFA’ law prohibits settlements in cryptocurrencies, but does not restrict their purchase or mining.

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