Russian Lawmakers Gave Up on Trying to Launch a State-Run Crypto Exchange

Updated: 30 May 2023

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After initially trying to create a state-owned crypto exchange, Russian lawmakers have decided to drop these plans in exchange for developing rules and regulations for existing platforms.

A recent report by a local news outlet said that the authorities had abandoned the initial idea.

The head of the State Duma committee, Anatoly Aksakov, said that rules for establishing and operating similar structures are now the main focus among the lawmakers.

1️⃣ Russia has just shocked the world by backtracking on its highly anticipated national #crypto exchange plans ?

? The twist? They’re focusing on private sector alternatives instead ?

— Keyur Rohit (@CryptoKingKeyur) May 30, 2023

Russia now seeks to regulate crypto exchanges

The news spread on Twitter quickly after Colin Wu of Wu Blockchain published it early on Monday morning.

He said,

Russian lawmakers have said they will no longer move forward with plans to create a state-level cryptocurrency trading platform. Focus on developing rules that would allow private companies to set up such trading platforms, overseen by Russia’s central bank, which is set to introduce new operating regulations by the end of the year.

Russian lawmakers have said they will no longer move forward with plans to create a state-level cryptocurrency trading platform. Focus on developing rules that would allow private companies to set up such trading platforms, overseen by Russia’s central bank, which is set to…

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) May 29, 2023

The reason behind the change in plans apparently is that the Ministry did not support establishing a single national crypto exchange.

This information came from the Director of the Financial Policy Department of the Ministry of Finance for the Russian Federation, Ivan Chebeskov.

Chebeskov added that the plan now is to legally regulate the possibility of creating such sites by businesses, meaning that Russia will allow private companies to build and run crypto exchanges.

Of course, such platforms will be closely monitored, but that they will be allowed to facilitate cross-border payments.

Anatoly Aksakov also confirmed this, although he did not specify which ones. He did, however, acknowledge that there will be new restrictions that the upcoming platforms will have to respect.

According to the local news source, Izvestia, the entity in charge of regulating the work of these platforms will likely be the country’s central bank. It will also be in charge of managing international settlements within the country’s new regulatory framework.

Russia keeps changing its mind about crypto

The news has already been taken as encouragement by a number of private crypto operators within the country.

For example, Oleg Ogienko of BitRiver, the country’s crypto mining company, said that this would minimize the risk of sanctions and cyber attacks. At the same time, it will eliminate market monopolies, which were a fair possibility until now.

Ivan Gostev, the GIS Mining commercial director, commented on the new development, stating that this will allow companies to become competitive and innovative.

However, it is also a fact that Russia ranks $137 of 180 countries on the 2022 Global Corruption Index. With that being the case, the private sector’s positive view on the news is not surprising.

Russia has been changing its mind about what it wants to do with cryptocurrencies for years. In early 2022, the country’s central bank proposed a full ban on crypto payments.

Only a month after that, the Ministry of Finance proposed regulating Bitcoin.

Then, the country’s president, Vladimir Putin, signed a law to make digital asset payments illegal, followed by the country’s sudden interest in stablecoins to avoid sanctions.

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