The Russian government is currently keeping all cryptocurrency owners in the country on their toes as it decided to crackdown on cryptocurrency websites.
The Russian government is currently keeping all cryptocurrency owners in the country on their toes as it decided to crackdown on cryptocurrency websites.
Taas.com reports Russia’s Central Bank’s First Deputy Chairman Sergey Shvetsov, as saying that the bank welcomes imposing any restrictions on operations of external websites. Though the government has said that its decision to ban external websites dealing on cryptocurrencies is premised on the fact that cryptocoins pose a risk to its citizens and businesses, this reason is highly doubtful.
In the past months, the government and its financial regulatory agencies have been considering descending the sledge hammer on the heads of cryptocurrency traders and exchanges. The reasons advanced for their actions, though may hold some water, may not really be why such harsh actions are being taken.
Cryptocurrencies, especially bitcoin have been seen as serious threats to fiat currencies and the gains derived from printing them. Since blockchain was brought into the financial market scene, it has been considered a serious technology capable of upsetting the ways things are done in the system.
Bitcoin, for instance, has been widely accepted as the digital currency of choice for financial transactions online and for payment for goods and services. And since it is decentralized, Bitcoin, Ethereum and some other carefully selected cryptocoins have made things relatively easier, reducing the confirmation time for financial transactions, and putting you fully in charge of your own portfolio with no external interference from banks and other financial regulatory agencies. This indeed has become a source of worries for several governments across the globe.
First Deputy Chairman Sergey Shvetsov has openly declared that the Bank saw “all cryptocurrency derivatives to be a negative development on the Russian market and do not consider it possible to support it.”
The ban on external websites comes on the heels of the recent complaints by the Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had earlier demanded for the banning of cryptocurrencies, bitcoin in particular, asserting that they could be used for money laundering, evading taxes, and terrorism financing. The president went on to say that bitcoin itself is a pyramid scheme.
Sputnik reported last month that the head of the Central Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, has said “we are categorically opposed to introducing cryptocurrencies in regulation as a monetary asset.”
While addressing reporters, the Deputy Finance Minister has stated vehemently that the country would not make Bitcoin payments legal.