Central Bank of Russia Allows Foreign Corporations to Invest in Cryptocurrency: Report

Russian citizens and companies should be able to buy Bitcoin, but not through the local infrastructure.

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Russia continues to send mixed signals to the crypto market as more reports provide details on the country’s upcoming crypto regulation.

Shortly after Russia’s central bank governor Elvira Nabiullina announced the bank’s intention to discourage the local financial system from using cryptocurrencies, another central bank executive made it clear that cryptocurrency investments in Russia will remain legal.

However, there will be one important condition: Russians can only invest in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) through foreign companies, said Vice-Governor Vladimir Chistyukhin, according to a report by the state publication TASS on December 20.

“Russian citizens and businesses have the right to buy and hold cryptocurrencies, but not through domestic infrastructure or intermediaries,” noted Chistyukhin.

The official stated that the Russian government was working to create clearer regulations for the crypto industry and promised that local authorities would consider legal initiatives related to the issue.

Chistyukhin mentioned that the Central Bank of Russia is currently preparing an advisory report to set out its vision for the role of cryptocurrencies in the Russian financial system:

“I’ll give you a hint. We see no place for cryptocurrencies on the Russian financial market. “

The latest comment comes shortly after Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the Russian State Duma’s Financial Markets Committee, announced on December 16 that Russia would choose between a cryptocurrency ban and legalization by 2022. On December 20, Aksakov announced that the Russians had invested more than $ 67 billion in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which requires urgent regulation.

Related: Bank of Russia bans mutual funds from investing in Bitcoin

Russia’s potential plan to only allow crypto investments through foreign crypto exchanges doesn’t come as a surprise, given that the country doesn’t have a single legitimate Russian-born crypto exchange.

According to the founder of Blockchain Existence, Sergei Khitrov, many Russian-born crypto exchanges have fled the country or continue to operate illegally. In the city of Moscow, a financial district of the Russian capital, around 50 cryptocurrency exchanges are believed to be involved in illegal activities, according to several investigations.

On the other hand, the services of global crypto exchanges like Binance are very popular in Russia as Russia is the second largest country in terms of total traffic on Binance.