Central Bank of Russia Requests Information from Banks on Bitcoin-Exchanger Operations

The Central Bank of Russia intends to study the operations of Russian banks related to cryptocurrency exchanges, casinos and forex dealers. This is reported by Kommersant.

According to the publication, at the end of 2021 the regulator first sent banks requests concerning cooperation with cryptocurrency exchanges in the context of P2P payments, including to cards of front men.

The inquiries, depending on the bank, named exchanges from the following list: btc-obmennik.com, cleanbtc.ru, 100bitcoins.com, ultrachange.biz, 1wn.kz, cryptex24.com/ru/, openchange.cash, xchange.cash, vexel.com, betatransfer.org.

The Central Bank emphasised that “cryptocurrency exchanges do not register their activities and do not bear financial obligations to individuals.” At the same time, transactions are conducted anonymously; exchanges accept payments “not into their own settlement accounts, but to cards and e-wallets under their control, often issued in the name of front persons,” without examining the purposes of the transactions and sources of funds to assess risks from money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

On the sites of the exchanges listed above, partners include Sberbank, VTB, Tinkoff, Western Union, WebMoney and Zolotaya Korona. Representatives of the latter said that their internal rules prohibit operations tied to entrepreneurial activity, including cryptocurrency trading. They argued that fraudulent sites may deliberately use the payment system’s trademarks to mislead users.

The Vexel.com exchange said it operates strictly within the legal framework, follows the latest edition of the recommendations developed by the Group for the Development of Financial Measures to Combat Money Laundering, and does not provide P2P transfer services.

According to market participants, Russians currently have access to 400–450 Russian and foreign crypto exchanges. The over-the-counter crypto market in Russia and the CIS totals about $1.3 billion per month, with roughly half of that in Russia.

Earlier in September the Central Bank of Russia said it planned to develop mechanism for blocking bank payments to cryptocurrency exchanges and exchangers. It also recommended blocking cards and accounts for transactions with bitcoin exchangers.

At the time, central-bank officials explained that they do not protect such investments, and holding digital currencies themselves carries a number of risks.

A lawyer told ForkLog about the legality of blocking bank accounts for cryptocurrency operations.

Read ForkLog’s bitcoin news on our Telegram — cryptocurrency news, rates and analysis.