Russia to Ban External Cryptocurrency Trading Websites

10.10.2017

According to the first deputy chairman of Russia’s Central Bank Sergei Shvetsov, Russia will ban websites that offer cryptocurrency trading. He noted that the regulator’s stance towards cryptocurrencies and their derivatives was negative.

“We will make efforts to limit the opportunity of operating such instruments for the regulated segment of the Russian market,” he said.

Presently, the Central Bank and the Prosecutor General’s office are preparing to block external websites that offer cryptocurrency trading.

Mr. Shvetsov claims that this position is the government’s attempt to protect Russian nationals from unreasonable risks inherent in cryptotrading.

“We see that bitcoin is mutating from a clearance unit into an asset purchased for the sake of obtaining high profits in a short while, i.e. it has features of a Ponzi scheme,” he added.

Earlier, the head of the regulator Elvira Nabiullina also claimed cryptocurrencies have features of a Ponzi scheme, and that the Central Bank was against their regulation as monetary units. Still, she conceded creating a government-controlled national cryptocurrency.

Meanwhile, Russia’s ministry of finance proposed that the Moscow Stock Exchange was granted a monopolistic right to trade cryptocurrencies.

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