Russia will block foreign crypto-currency exchanges

Russia wants to start controlling the decentralized cryptocurrency market, and above all the Bitcoin exchanges. Last Tuesday, Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, announced that cryptocurrencies are an extremely risky instrument used for criminal purposes. Therefore, the Russian central bank will take steps to block websites that sell Bitcoin (i.e. cryptocurrency exchanges).

A firm position of the rulers

Sergey, Shvetsov, the first deputy prime minister of the Central Bank of Russia, during a conference in Moscow expressed the opinion that they do not want to leave this market "to themselves", calling digital currencies "doubtful" and their task is to protect investors.

“We cannot stand out. We cannot give direct and easy access to such dubious instruments for investors. "

In addition, Shvetsov explained that the central bank sees a growing interest in this type of instruments due to the high volatility and chance of achieving large profits. However, as an institution, they will support efforts to block access to external websites that offer brokering cryptocorats to Russian citizens.

According to the president of Russia, cryptocurrencies are easy to use for laundering money, avoiding paying taxes, and even financing terrorism. All this means that digital currencies must be regulated as quickly as possible.

Vladimir Putin said:

“The use of cryptocurrencies brings a serious threat. New cryptocurrencies are issued by an unlimited number of anonymous bodies. So, buyers of tokens may be involved in illegal activities.

Initially, Russian financial institutions did not take cryptocurrencies seriously and were treated as "illegal" in advance. However, the scale of the growing interest in these instruments meant that this approach was quickly verified.

Anton Siluanov, Minister of Finance of Russia:

"There is no point in blocking them, you have to regulate them," Siluanov said in September, adding that his ministry was working on the law and a registry of people who want to buy virtual money.

Bitcoin, the most-popular digital currency that saw the light of day in the middle of 2010, recorded new historical records this week reaching the price level at 5675 USD. It must be admitted that for an 7-century history this is an impressive increase from the initial price of 1 USD.

Be sure to read: Bitcoin - the most important information