Russia to launch crypto exchange for qualified investors, finance minister unveils

Financial authorities in Russia intend to set up a crypto exchange reserved for qualified investors, the country’s finance minister announced.

The state-run platform will legalize cryptocurrency transactions, at least those carried out under the Russian Federation’s experimental legal regime.

Minfin and Central Bank to create Russian crypto exchange

The Russian Ministry of Finance (Minfin), in collaboration with the Central Bank of Russia (CBR), will launch a crypto exchange, Russia’s Finance Minister Anton Siluanov revealed, quoted by the Tass news agency on Wednesday.

The trading platform’s services will be available exclusively to “super-qualified investors,” according to Siluanov’s statements during an extended meeting of his ministry’s board at the “Russia” National Center in Moscow.

“Together with the Central Bank, we will launch a crypto exchange for super-qualified investors. Crypto assets will be legalized, crypto transactions will be brought out of the shadows,” the government official elaborated.

Siluanov was quick to point out, however, that he was specifically referring to digital asset transactions carried out within the framework of the country’s “experimental legal regime” (ELR), not Russia’s entire jurisdiction.

The Bank of Russia has been consistently opposed to legalizing the free circulation of decentralized cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) in the country’s economy, citing risks for financial stability and the Russian ruble’s constitutional status as sole legal tender.

Russia to experiment with crypto trading in 3 years

Acting on instructions from President Vladimir Putin, the CBR suggested in March to allow “a limited number of Russian investors to buy and sell cryptocurrencies” and proposed to establish “a special experimental legal regime” for a period of three years.

Under the ELR, only “especially qualified” investors will be permitted to conduct cryptocurrency transactions, the central bank elaborated.

To acquire that status, private individuals would have to prove investments in securities or deposits exceeding 100 million rubles (over $1.2 million at current exchange rates) and annual income from the past year of more than 50 million rubles (over $600 million).

Companies recognized as “qualified investors” under current Russian law and financial corporations meeting CBR’s requirements can participate in the experiment as well.

Future crypto exchange may help Russian companies bypass sanctions

Officials in Moscow have also expressed hopes that Russian businesses will be able to use the ELR for crypto settlements with foreign trading partners as their access to traditional financial channels has been severely limited by Ukraine war-related sanctions.

In April, CBR governor Elvira Nabiullina admitted that Russian companies are showing interest in cross-border crypto payments. She also acknowledged that Russian businesses are already trying international settlements with digital assets.

The Ministry of Finance took part in preparing the proposal to create a regulated crypto market for qualified investors, Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov had noted earlier. He also revealed that the Minfin considers using existing infrastructure, like the Moscow Exchange, to test crypto trading.

The Minfin is considering the creation of a Russian stablecoin similar to the U.S. dollar-pegged Tether (USDT), the deputy head of the ministry’s Financial Policy Department, Osman Kabaloev, announced this month. The news came in the wake of last month’s freezing of around 2.5 billion rubles of USDT held in wallets on the sanctioned Russian crypto exchange Garantex.

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