The Russian government no longer plans to launch a regulated national cryptocurrency exchange but wants to regulate multiple cryptocurrency trading platforms.
According to State Duma member Anatoly Aksakov, after coming up with a plan to create a national cryptocurrency exchange in November 2022, Russian lawmakers abandoned the idea. As previously reported, local authorities are considering launching a unified crypto exchange as part of the Moscow Exchange.
Aksakov said that instead of setting up a unified cryptocurrency exchange, Russia now wants to set rules for creating and managing such platforms, local news agency Izvestia reported on May 29. The Russian Ministry of Finance is reportedly among a number of agencies that do not support plans for a national cryptocurrency exchange.
Aksakov, the head of the Duma’s financial markets committee, noted that cryptocurrency exchanges will allow Russian businesses to process cross-border transactions. Cryptocurrency exchanges will also allow domestic companies to avoid sanctions.
In response to such restrictions, Russia will continue to create new crypto platforms and institutions, Aksakov said, adding that the main thing will be to regulate that process.
Aksakov hinted that Russia’s central bank will likely be the main regulator overseeing cryptocurrency exchanges. He noted that the relevant regulatory framework would be part of the experimental regulatory regimes bill.