On Tuesday, the governor of Russia's Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, said that the country will have a prototype of its digital rouble platform ready by early 2022 and will roll it out for trial use next year before making a final decision on whether or not to release its own digital currency, according to a Reuters report. Meanwhile, Russian lawmakers will reportedly begin working on the legal adjustments needed to implement the digital ruble plan to accommodate the digital currency. According to Izvestia, the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market head Anatoly Aksakov stated that these legal modifications would …

Tinkoff Investments, the online brokerage of major Russian private bank Tinkoff, is researching cryptocurrency investment services despite the Bank of Russia withholding the bank from launching such tools. Tinkoff Investments head Dmitry Panchenko claimed that the bank’s brokerage portal is considering projects related to cryptocurrency investment but it’s too early to discuss specific ideas. The company is now working on research and development initiatives targeting a range of crypto-related services, Panchenko said in an Oct. 28 interview with local news agency TASS. Tinkoff Investments is specifically looking at crypto products by companies like international payment giant PayPal, as well as …

The Russian cryptocurrency market has grown to hundreds of billions of dollars despite the absence of sufficient cryptocurrency regulation, according to a major industry executive. Sergei Khitrov, founder of the Russian cryptocurrency event Blockchain Life, gave a keynote speech on the state of cryptocurrency regulation in Russia at the VII Blockchain Life Forum in Moscow on Oct. 27. Based on his own industry insights and knowledge of the market, Khitrov estimated the Russian crypto market to be worth as much as 40 trillion rubles, or more than $550 billion. He also claimed that Russian crypto businesses could generate as much …

Despite Russian officials' increased interest in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Russia’s internet ombudsman expressed confidence that local crypto regulations will remain largely prohibitive. Dmitry Marinichev, Russia’s ombudsman for the protection of entrepreneurs' rights under Russian President Vladimir Putin, on Wednesday discussed Russia’s approach to cryptocurrency regulations at a panel of a major local industry event, Blockchain Life 2021. Russia will continue taking a restrictive stance on crypto because the Russian government doesn’t want Russian people to make money with Bitcoin, Marinichev said: “I’m sure that Russian crypto policies will always be prohibitive because no one is looking to allow Russian …

Despite Russia adopting its first cryptocurrency law in January 2021, the country’s cryptocurrency market is still largely unregulated and is associated with a lot of uncertainty, according to a local industry advocate. Yury Pripachkin, head of the Russian Association of Cryptoindustry and Blockchain (RACIB), argued that the existing Russian crypto regulations are nothing more than “half-measures” that have nothing to do with systematic solutions. In an interview with local news agency RBC, Pripachkin referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin issuing multiple consecutive mandates to adopt crypto regulation over the past four years. The executive highlighted that the total market capitalization …

A new report shared by Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) highlights an ongoing phishing campaign against YouTube creators, typically resulting in the compromise and sale of channels for broadcasting cryptocurrency scams. The TAG attributes the attacks to a group of hackers recruited in a Russian-speaking forum that hacks the creator’s channel by offering fake collaboration opportunities. Once hijacked, the YouTube channels are either sold to the highest bidder or used to broadcast cryptocurrency scams: “A large number of hijacked channels were rebranded for cryptocurrency scam live-streaming. On account-trading markets, hijacked channels ranged from $3 USD to $4,000 USD depending on …

Two or three weeks ago, when Bitcoin (BTC) was trading below $52,000, a trader betting on $65,000 by Oct. 22 would have been considered extremely optimistic. The fact that 98% of the put (sell) options for Bitcoin's weekly options expiry on Oct. 22 has been placed below that price proves that this is true. Fast forward to this week, and the successful launch of the first BTC exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States and news that Digital Currency Group (DCG), the parent company of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, increased its limit to acquire up to $1 billion worth of …

Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska has once again called on the Russian government to stop ignoring Bitcoin (BTC) after the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation raided his homes in Washington and New York. In a Telegram post on Thursday, Deripaska argued that the Bank of Russia has been “infantile in ignoring the growing cryptocurrency market,” while the U.S. Department of the Treasury has been “investing particularly in this direction.” The billionaire emphasized that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have massive potential to not only help Russia avoid U.S. sanctions but also weaken the U.S. dollar, stating: “The U.S. had realized long ago …

The Russian government is considering a new project to mine Bitcoin (BTC) with associated petroleum gas. Vasiliy Shpak, deputy minister of Industry and Trade of Russia, has reportedly filed a proposal with the Russian central bank and the Ministry of Digital Development to use the country’s oil field equipment for mining cryptocurrency. According to a report by Kommersant, the proposal was filed on Sept. 7, asking the government to provide its feedback on an initiative originally coming from local oil and gas companies. The firms specifically proposed to use associated gas to power nearby data centers for mining Bitcoin. This …

As Russia continues pushing de-dollarization, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA Russia) is reportedly considering replacing the United States dollar with not only traditional fiat currencies but also digital currencies. Aleksandr Pankin, deputy minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, reiterated the country’s plans to reduce the U.S. dollar share in Russia’s international reserves and its usage in settlement with foreign partners in a Tuesday interview with local news agency Interfax. The official said that MFA Russia isn’t excluding the possibility of replacing the U.S. dollar with “some digital assets” alongside other currencies: “It’s possible to replace the U.S. dollar with …

The central bank of Russia is trying to evaluate the amount of Bitcoin (BTC) held by local investors amid a massive amount of money not returning to banks following the pandemic-fueled withdrawals. According to Elizaveta Danilova, head of the central bank’s financial stability department, the Bank of Russia is polling local cryptocurrency investors to estimate cryptocurrency investment volumes in Russia. “We need to work both on data and raising public awareness about the risks of such investments, which are backed by nothing,” Danilova said in a Reuters interview published on the Bank of Russia’s official website on Thursday. The official …

The Russian Ministry of Energy is looking to introduce special electricity tariffs for cryptocurrency miners following a migration of the industry into the country from nearby China. Russian Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov announced Wednesday that the authority is working on a new framework to differentiate tariffs between general usage and cryptocurrency mining, local news agency RBC reported on Wednesday. Shulginov said that cryptocurrency miners in Russia should not consume electricity at residential tariffs, stating: “We can’t let miners capitalize on the situation at the expense of low residential electricity tariffs [...] In order to maintain the reliability and quality of …