Cryptocurrencies in Russia: the state will not leave a chance for enrichment

Novye Izvestia tried to figure out how long the freemen would still last, or whether it was time to say goodbye to the crypt.

Victoria Pavlova

For fans of cryptocurrencies, an attraction of unprecedented generosity has recently opened: the largest information portal about the cryptocurrency Bitcoin.org began distributing bitcoins to everyone: supposedly it was enough to send a certain amount of bitcoins to the wallet and in response, a double amount will come. Of course, the distribution turned out to be fake - the portal was hacked by hackers. But after all the ups and downs of the bitcoin rate, the owners of the crypt cannot be surprised even with such miracles. Although the first deputy chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Sergey Shvetsov, can confuse even experienced cryptocurrency traders with his statements.

“We are starting to work with the banking system so that it slows down payments in favor of exchange offices and crypto exchanges, blocking the opportunities for emotional purchases of such products”, - said the first deputy chairman of the Central Bank.

Shvetsov seems to believe that crypto exchanges are no different from online casinos and illegal bookmakers. How else to explain his statement that the Central Bank is already working with credit institutions to slow down payments in favor of crypto-exchanges and exchangers in order to protect Russians from emotional purchases.

Naturally, the miracles of enrichment and the loss of all savings carry considerable risks. The thirst for light and big, sometimes very big money, provokes people to rash actions. But experts are in no hurry to indiscriminately blame the crypto exchange for everything.

"Amateur investors, and there are many such in the field of cryptocurrency trading due to the absence of administrative barriers, often cannot adequately assess their own risks and prefer financial instruments with the highest available volatility. Trading cryptocurrencies in this format can very quickly nullify a deposit. It looks like roulette, but unlike a casino, understanding the principles of the cryptocurrency market, self-control and accuracy make it possible to significantly increase funds. In addition, some cryptocurrencies, such as Tether , are tightly pegged to the dollar", - explains the independent economist Ivan Antropov.

With illegal exchangers, everything is clear: they are often represented by unknown individuals who accept real payments to the cards of dummies, and in return transfer cryptocurrency to clients, and vice versa. This is illegal business activity.

But there is simply nothing illegal about buying and owning a cryptocurrency. This is confirmed by the law on digital financial assets and digital currency, approved by the State Duma on July 22, 2020. Corresponding changes were made to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. And a crypto exchange is not always a dubious fraudulent office. Many of them are registered in respected jurisdictions, such as the UK, and are subject to appropriate financial regulations. A legal crypto exchange exists even in Belarus (and with the further integration of Russia and Belarus, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation will have to put up with this fact). Due to their availability, cryptocurrencies are used either as an investment tool to make money on the difference in exchange rates, or as a means of payment. Crypto payment is not necessarily accepted by hard-core lawbreakers like drug dealers. In addition, new media trying to maintain anonymity, such as Telegram channels, also willingly use cryptocurrency. Otherwise, you can follow in the footsteps of all objectionable media outlets who have been registered as foreign agents.

It turns out that the Central Bank, according to its own concepts, allows the blocking of completely legal transactions of Russian citizens? The editors of Novye Izvestia addressed this question to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, but the press service of the department did not provide either confirmation of Sergey Shevtsov 's words or a detailed answer, referring to recent guidelines on increasing the attention of credit institutions to certain transactions of individual clients. Unlike Shvetsov's speech, this document contains absolutely specific formulations. He instructs banks to watch out for openly fraudulent transactions that have clear signs of this. We are not talking about any "emotional deals" here.

The isolation of the official’s words from the real actions of the Central Bank is confirmed by one of the leading political and economic telegram channels “Kremlin Mamkovved” .

- These guidelines describe common fraud monitoring, which is used by both banks and payment systems. They just formalize this activity and pay additional attention of credit institutions to transfers in favor of crypto-exchanges, which can be used for money laundering. The statements of Deputy Chairman Shvetsov have nothing to do with this document.

The authors of the "Kremlin Mamkovedist" explain that such statements are made for a reason:

- Before making important and controversial decisions, it is important for the government to know the future reaction of society in order to understand what measures the people will swallow, and with which problems will arise. This makes it possible to prepare for the suppression of popular discontent. Reputational damage from such experiments is minimal - people do not take seriously the words spoken by politicians and officials of the second echelon "in the form of delirium." But in vain. It is by such statements that one can predict future policy.

Where the pension system is heading is clear for a long time. It is not the first time that the authorities have cast the bait towards personal voluntary savings of citizens and relieving themselves of any responsibility for social security of pensioners. But who got in the way of cryptocurrency? Be that as it may, it is gaining more and more distribution in the world. El Salvador this summer recognized bitcoin as a legal means of payment on a par with dollars. According to Ivan Antropov, the answer lies in the future plans of the Central Bank:

- At the beginning of 2022, the Central Bank launches a pilot project for a digital ruble based on a similar blockchain technology. And it is very desirable for the main bank of the country to get rid of any associations of the digital ruble with the same bitcoin. The less there is talk about crypto in society, the less investors will invest in crypto, the easier it will be for the Central Bank to work and promote its crypto-ruble to the masses.

"Kremlin Mamkovved" also focuses on the factor of tax collection.

- The Ministry of Finance, which is in the same harness with the Central Bank, is now taking all possible measures to increase fees to finance the growing spending on defense and national security. Operations with cryptocurrencies (both mining and trading) are also subject to taxation. But it is extremely difficult to control such operations due to the anonymity of wallets. The development of cryptocurrencies for the government is the risk of tax evasion by Russians.

Apparently, the tightening of work with cryptocurrency will still overtake us. Moreover, the prospects described by Shvetsov, as noted by Ivan Antropov, are still the mildest option.

"Now we were talking about blocking the replenishment of cryptocurrency accounts. But it is possible that as part of the fight against cryptocurrencies, withdrawals from crypto-exchanges will be blocked, for example, under the pretext of countering the financing of terrorism. Owning a crypt is welcome, but you cannot dispose of it on the territory of Russia", - says the expert.

The current conditions for working with crypt are still quite liberal. Probably in the near future the nuts will be tightened. And it's not about keeping inexperienced investors safe. As always: if the government does not understand something, then it seeks to prohibit it by any means.