The Central Bank will take a closer look at cryptocurrency transfers – Kommersant FM

The Central Bank will study cross-border transfers of Russians related to crypto assets. The regulator wants to estimate the volume of bank transfers that citizens send for such purchases. The study is due to begin in early 2024 and end on February 9. 20 banks will participate in the monitoring, including Raiffeisenbank, Unicreditbank, Citibank, Unistream and OTP-bank. Now cryptocurrencies are recognized as property, but they cannot be used for payment. Such transactions are available only for digital rubles; the project is currently operating in test mode.

Probably, the Central Bank is collecting data that will form the basis for regulating crypto assets, says Egor Krivosheya, head of the blockchain and fintech laboratory at the Skolkovo School of Management: “This is really part of monitoring. Recently, information has been actively appearing that some movements are being considered in terms of regulating cryptocurrencies.

I think this is a check of what necessary steps to take next, what can be regulated, how, and with the help of what mechanisms. I think we can expect a standard “know your client” procedure – KYC/AML, perhaps some restrictions on the amount of transfers in a certain period. Statistics can also show how much money in cross-border transfers goes to cryptocurrencies, and will allow you to set limits so that this can be controlled a little better.

Will the Central Bank still have some kind of blind spot? When we talk about standard ways to purchase crypto assets, almost all players were required to have KYC and anti-money laundering (AML) rules, so most crypto exchanges, exchangers, wallets and other tools required personal data.

I don’t think there will be any negative consequences or restrictions. If the bank did not find the transaction suspicious and it was not blocked, then retrospective measures are unlikely to be taken, and so on. A blind spot may remain exchangers, methods of purchasing cryptocurrencies, which have historically been in some shadow zone – these are P2P payments in their pure form, purchases are made in cash and transferred on a physical medium, for example, on a “cold” wallet, or the transfer is already made in the decentralized world , for example, from wallet to wallet.

The second method was physical exchangers, where essentially the same thing happened, but perhaps in a more centralized form. This is especially popular among small companies, but whether it was in greater demand than, for example, Binance is an open question. There were also some preventive measures for these kinds of instruments.”

The Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance have been discussing the possibility of legalizing cryptocurrency for several years. The Central Bank fears that it will become a tool for criminals. The Ministry of Finance is in favor of market regulation.

The other day, the head of the financial market committee, Anatoly Aksakov, told Kommersant FM that the bill on cryptocurrencies could pass the first reading by April 2024. Initially, it was expected to be adopted by the end of 2023. Several factors are hindering the determination of the parameters of the new legislation, notes independent expert on financial markets Alexey Bushuev: “Now, judging by external signs, there is a powerful clash between groups that have an overall impact on the finances of the Russian Federation.

These are the usual groups that controlled the same Central Bank, on the other hand, we see how functions related to financial regulation suddenly find themselves in other places. Some functions were transferred to the financial monitoring service. The fundamental discrepancy is who will control all this.

Or groups associated with the industry may say, we don’t have enough of the notorious “microprocessors for washing machines,” we only need $20 million, let us do it through crypto without control. We are talking, among other things, about the digital ruble, about how to build it all. For example, shouldn’t we make two digital currencies? One electronic ruble is for external use, the other is for internal use.

We need to collect fresh data that is not biased by one or another source, for example, only the Central Bank. The same research can be carried out under the auspices of the special services, or the Ministry of Finance, or Financial Monitoring.”

According to Rosfinmonitoring, the number of transactions with cryptocurrencies in Russia has tripled in the 23rd year.

In November, the Central Bank also warned citizens about the growing risks associated with such investments. It was noted that this is especially relevant against the backdrop of the launch of alternative exchange platforms.

One of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, Binance, previously announced its departure from Russia and sold its local business. Customers were asked to withdraw their funds by December 29th. After this, as the platform promised, open positions will be gradually closed.

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Elizaveta Skobtsova