Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Rus', the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, has not urged his flock to invest in Bitcoin, despite videos claiming otherwise. A clip recently emerged claiming that Kirill had urged the faithful to invest in cryptocurrencies. While the video does include genuine comments from the patriarch regarding the benefits of robotics for the economy, and a mention of Bitcoin (BTC), the comments were heavily edited, with the narrator further claiming that the leader would bless those who wish to invest in crypto in a special service at a Moscow church. The church's top media …

Russian punk rock collective Pussy Riot is planning to launch a DAO for LBTQ+ and women artists. As the group’s co-founder Nadya Tolokonnikova told Cointelegraph, The DAO will be working on reducing the gender inequality that still marks the NFT space and, more broadly, the crypto industry. Despite the large gender gap in crypto — around 60% of US crypto investors are white men according to a survey from August 2021 — Nadya is convinced that it is still early enough for Pussy Riot to make an impact. “The NFT space is still so small, I feel that with a …

TCS Group, the owner of the major private Russian bank Tinkoff, is gaining exposure to digital assets. The firm has invested in Swiss digital asset service provider Aximetria, which is set to become the company’s first major crypto-related outfit, local news agency The Bell reported Wednesday. Citing data from Aximetria, the report suggests that TCS purchased 4,449 Aximetria shares worth 100 Swiss francs ($108) per share. Given that Aximetria’s total share capital was about 535,000 francs ($578,000), the publication reported TCS’ stake to be around 83.2%. A spokesperson for Tinkoff confirmed the news to Cointelegraph, stating that Aximetria will be …

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is putting more effort into increasing compliance in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Russia and Ukraine. Binance is planning to extend its operations in the region and boost local cryptocurrency compliance and education, Gleb Kostarev, Binance’s head of operations for Russia and the CIS, told Cointelegraph on Tuesday. The company additionally expects to focus on the local Binance Smart Chain (BSC) development and community, he noted. As part of the effort, Binance announced several local hires, including Olga Goncharova, Binance’s new director of government relations in Russia and the CIS. Goncharova previously served …

Sber, the Russian government-backed company and the largest bank in the country, is launching a blockchain exchange-traded fund (ETF) to track the performance of major crypto companies such as Coinbase and Galaxy Digital. Sber Asset Management officially announced the news on Thursday, stating that the new ETF is linked to various blockchain and crypto industry firms, including hardware and software providers for mining and issuing crypto assets. Called “Sber — Blockchain Economy,” the fund is set to trade under the ticker SBBE and will track the eponymous index developed by Sber’s investment subsidiary SberCIB. SBBE’s portfolio will include some of …

Kevin Lee, a professional mixed martial arts fighter, has said a major factor in his decision to sign with a new promotion company was Bitcoin (BTC). According to a report from MMA news outlet BJ Penn, the Russia-based Eagle Fighting Championship will be paying Lee in BTC as part of a four-fight contract. The fighter has reportedly been a HODLer since before the 2017 bull run, later using some of the profits to live off of after paying for knee surgeries. “To be paid in Bitcoin and not give me any pushback on it whatsoever, was huge in the decision …

It is that time of the year: Singular events must be abandoned in favor of end-of-year, big-picture narratives and yearly lessons learned. As many governments across the globe finally had to face the rapidly mainstreaming realm of digital finance, the year is packed with developments in crypto policy and regulation that are impossible to fit into a neat little summary. However, it is possible to try and distill several major trends that have come to the fore during the past 12 months, and that will keep shaping the relationship among societies, state power and the crypto space as we roll …

Amid the ongoing uncertainty about the future of cryptocurrencies in Russia, one local industry executive has disclosed a potential method for the Bank of Russia to block crypto transactions. Andrey Mikhaylishin, CEO of the local crypto payment startup Joys, said that the Russian central bank is now considering several potential options to make its crypto ban possible, Forbes Russia reported Friday. One of the possible restriction methods includes blocking debit card payments to crypto exchanges or wallets using merchant category codes (MCC), Mikhaylishin said. The report notes that the executive became aware of this blocking method from Bank of Russia …

Russia continues sending mixed signals to the cryptocurrency markets as more reports provide details on the country’s upcoming crypto regulation. Shortly after Bank of Russia governor Elvira Nabiullina announced the Bank’s intention to prevent the local financial system from using crypto, another executive at the central bank has clarified that crypto investment will remain legal in Russia. There will be one important condition, however: Russians will only be able to invest in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) through foreign companies, deputy governor Vladimir Chistyukhin said, according to a Dec. 20 report by the state-owned publication TASS. “Russian citizens and businesses have …

The crypto regulation regime in any jurisdiction is an equilibrium among multiple institutional, group and personal interests of actors who have a sway over financial and monetary policies. These interests never perfectly align, frequently resulting in contradictory signals coming out of various power centers. Speaking about systemic risks facing the world’s largest economy last week, the United States Federal Reserve chair said digital assets were not a financial stability concern. Two days later, the U.S. Financial Stability Oversight Council issued a report that concluded that stablecoins and decentralized finance could pose sizeable financial stability risks. The source of this discrepancy …

In a Friday press conference, Central Bank of Russia governor Elvira Nabiullina further escalated the fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) surrounding the state of crypto regulation in the country. When asked about the rise of digital assets, Nabiullina gave the following remarks, as reported by local news outlet finmarket.ru and translated by Cointelegraph: You know that our attitude towards cryptocurrencies is of, to put it mildly, skepticism. Related to this are the significant risks for retail investors and the substantial volatility for this type of asset. In addition, cryptocurrencies are opaque in that they are frequently used for illegal operations …

On Thursday, conflicting reports emerged in Russia on the state of crypto regulatory affairs. First, a report by Reuters indicated that the Central Bank of Russia is seeking a ban on cryptocurrencies, citing risks to financial stability and the exploding volume of transactions. If enacted, the move would align with remarks made by Russian President Vladimir Putin last month, who stated that cryptocurrencies "bear high risks" at an investment forum in Moscow. The nation's central bank is currently preparing an advisory report on the issue. However, Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the Duma [Russian Parliament] Committee on Financial Markets, gave the …