The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) is currently in talks with commercial banks to delay payments made to cryptocurrency exchanges.
During an event in Sochi City, a central bank official said that the purpose of slowing down crypto exchange payments is to reduce what the bank calls “emotional” purchases made by unqualified investors.
This recent decision from CBR is expected to affect peer-to-peer and over-the-counter trading platforms.
“We are starting to work with the banking system so that it slows down payments in favor of exchange offices and cryptocurrency exchanges, fencing off opportunities for emotional purchases of this kind of products,” CBR Deputy Chairman Sergei Shvetsov said.
Rising crypto interest
The decision to delay payments made to cryptocurrency exchanges is a direct response to the rising interest of Russians in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, and other cryptos.
But even with the surge of cryptocurrencies in the country, the Central Bank of Russia isn’t yet ready to throw its support on these digital asset class mainly because of their volatile nature.
While the country is not yet hostile to cryptocurrencies, the government has already expressed its skepticism on cryptos, warning citizens about its risks.
Shvetsov said that cryptos are very comparable with a pyramid scheme. He also added that the central bank believes that cryptocurrencies are very different from traditional assets, and it does not recommend them for investment purposes.
Crypto fraud
The government is also concerned about the rising crypto fraud incident in the country. Recently, Dmitry Vasiliev, head of the Russian crypto exchange company Wex, was arrested in Warsaw, Poland.
According to the authorities, Wex (formerly BTC-e), is allegedly involved in laundering millions of funds from high-profile crypto hacks.
Alexander Vinnik, the former chief of BTC-e, was charged with laundering over $4 billion worth of bitcoin in the course of six years.
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