Russia Considers Loosening Crypto Rules to Outwit Western Sanctions-The Plot Thickens!

by

Well, well, well. It seems Russia has decided to have a little rethink about its cryptocurrency rules. You know, just casually. A rather illustrious official from the Bank of Russia has floated the idea of loosening the shackles on digital currencies. This is, of course, in direct response to the grand array of Western sanctions that have been raining down upon the country like confetti at a New Year’s bash.

According to a delightful little nugget of gossip reported on Monday by the ever-informative Kommersant, one Vladimir Chistyukhin, First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Russia, mentioned that the powers that be were having a rather serious chinwag about relaxing the regulations surrounding cryptocurrencies. He boldly connected this potential relaxation with the rather unceremonious sanctions imposed on Russia after that little kerfuffle known as the Ukraine invasion in February 2022.

Chistyukhin, not one to mince words, pointed out that this crypto talk is particularly relevant because, you see, Russia and its fine citizens are currently banned from using “normal currencies” for making payments abroad. Oh, the shame!

Now, let’s take a little trip back in time to the summer of 2020, when Russia thought it a jolly good idea to ban the use of cryptocurrencies for payments. How quaint. But now, it seems they’ve had a change of heart-just a smidgeon of a change-and are contemplating a shift in approach.

Apparently, by the end of this month, the Bank of Russia is hoping to strike an agreement with the Ministry of Finance on this matter. The burning issue? Whether or not to lift the rather exclusive “super-qualified investor” requirement for buying and selling crypto with actual delivery. It’s a lot of ‘high society’ talk, but you’ll catch on.

What on earth is a super-qualified investor?

Ah, the super-qualified investor. It’s a title that sounds almost as elite as a member of the Queen’s court, isn’t it? The “superquals,” as they’ve been cheekily dubbed, are defined by the sort of wealth that makes your average billionaire look like a humble shopkeeper. We’re talking wealth and income thresholds north of 100 million rubles (around $1.3 million) or an annual income of at least 50 million rubles ($650,000). In other words, unless you’ve been sitting on a small fortune, don’t bother with crypto in Russia-at least not until now.

According to Chistyukhin, the Bank of Russia is toying with the idea of doing away with this exclusivity in the new crypto regulations. The times, they are a-changin’, my friends. It’s almost like they’re starting to relax and join the fun.

Russia’s Bold Battle Against Sanctions

Now, of course, Russia has been under the weight of those pesky Western sanctions for what seems like forever. In a plot twist worthy of a Hollywood movie, regulators in both the United States and Europe have been cracking down on crypto-based methods that could potentially bypass these sanctions. Oh, the drama!

In late October, the European Union pulled out its big guns with the 19th sanctions package against Russia, which, among other things, slapped restrictions on cryptocurrency platforms. They even had the audacity to target the A7A5 ruble-backed stablecoin. Now, EU authorities have decided that this coin is quite the “prominent tool” for financing, shall we say, less-than-legal activities, including that whole “war of aggression” business.

But wait, there’s more. Reports from October revealed that A7A5-the stablecoin that’s backed by the Russian ruble but issued in Kyrgyzstan-had shot up to become the world’s largest non-US-dollar stablecoin. Quite the accomplishment, if you ask me. And in August, the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control re-designated Garantex Europe, a cryptocurrency exchange, to its sanctions list for the second time. A real rollercoaster, eh?

Read More

2025-12-02 17:43