Lawyer: a DEX ban is possible in Russia

Under a strict regulatory scenario for the cryptocurrency market in Russia, decentralized exchanges could be banned. This was stated by Tatiana-Eliza Vasilyeva, managing partner at Baseley & Partners, during ForkLog online conference ‘Centralised Exchanges and DEX: Pros, Cons, Differences’.

In her view, regulation in Russia is carried out with a targeting perspective, that is, the jurisdiction where the trading platform advertises services and attracts new users.

“Given the latest initiatives, there is a possibility of criminal liability for using DEXs. In a soft scenario they would continue to be in the gray area without regulatory legislation, but this is unlikely,” said Tatiana-Eliza Vasilyeva.

The regulatory push in Russia, the lawyer characterises as \”heavy-handed\”, because regulators apply norms to the cryptocurrency market by analogy with traditional financial institutions.

“Russia has now developed a more systematic approach to centralized platforms. With DEXs, it is a matter of enforcement practice. For now, the regulator’s attention is shifted toward other institutions, and DEXs are not as interesting to prosecute,” adds Vasilyeva.

Ukraine is ahead of Russia in the speed of enacting regulatory documents, but focuses on other aspects of regulation.

“Lawmakers are focusing on user verification and requirements for centralized exchanges. In the future, these rules can be easily extended to DEXs,” explains the lawyer.

The introduction of a digital ruble could accelerate the passage of relevant laws in Russia:

“If the crypto-ruble becomes a primary direction, the laws will be passed very quickly. Based on practice, they will be targeted. I do not think that in this case it would be advantageous for the state to remove private exchanges, since the crypto-ruble may operate on these platforms,” says Tatiana-Eliza Vasilyeva.

Earlier, Nominex CEO Pavel Shkitin stated that in 2020 developers should refrain from launching cryptocurrency exchanges if driven by the desire for quick profits.

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