The surge in Russian traffic to global cryptocurrency exchange platforms in the last two quarters has prompted officials to issue a warning about the risk of Western sanctions. According to a central bank study, Russian traffic to some of the largest crypto exchanges increased by 16.4%, reaching 104.6 million visits. Russian Share of Global Traffic…
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Approximately 50 users of Beribit, a Russian cryptocurrency exchange, recently tried to storm the company’s Moscow offices to demand their digital assets. Beribit’s management has attributed the delay in processing withdrawal requests to an audit initiated following the discovery of discrepancies in the exchange’s balance sheet. Balance Sheet Discrepancies About 50 users of the Russian…
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Anton Siluanov, the finance minister of Russia, is prepared to discuss the gray areas surrounding cryptocurrency mining and the use of its proceeding for payments. In a recent lecture, Siluanov stated that the government needed to agree “on what can be done with cryptocurrency,” and “what cannot be done,” recognizing that the issue had been…
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A group of lawmakers in Russia introduced a bill that would extend money laundering controls to digital ruble transactions. The proposal, spearheaded by the Chairman of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market Anatoly Aksakov, establishes different responsibilities for platform participants and the Central Bank of Russia, which is appointed as the main AML…
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Elvira Nabiullina, Governor of the Bank of Russia, stated that the current pilot test of the Russian digital ruble was “on track,” with several operations being tested, including opening wallets, and interactions with smart contracts. Nabiullina revealed that over 25,000 transactions were registered, and confirmed the pilot expansion later this year. Russian Digital Ruble Pilot…
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The Bank of Russia has offered an update on the future of the digital ruble pilot, the Russian central bank digital currency (CBDC). The bank’s press service clarified that the pilot will continue throughout 2024 and until the massification of the digital ruble usage, estimated to happen in 2025. Digital Ruble Pilot to Run Indefinitely…
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The Bank of Russia has announced it will create a joint payment system with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) using the digital ruble. Bank of Russia’s First Deputy Governor Olga Skorobogatova stated that the system would serve individuals and businesses alike and estimated its development would take a year. Russia to Develop Digital Ruble ‘Fast…
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Expobank, a large financial institution in Russia, has reportedly issued the first tokenized diamond offering in the country. According to local media, Expobank used the Multichain blockchain platform to issue these tokens, with each one of them having the value of 1/5,000 of a diamond, democratizing access to these investments in gemstones for small investors.…
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Director of Rosfinmonitoring Yuri Chikhanchin referred to the rise in popularity that crypto is experiencing in Russia in a recent interview, stating that more than 185,000 cryptocurrency transactions were completed during the first nine months of 2023. Chikhanchin also called for regulation in the crypto industry to be introduced as soon as possible due to…
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The Bank of Russia offered an update about the state of the digital ruble, the Russian central bank digital currency (CBDC), which is currently in a nationwide pilot. Elvira Nabiullina, governor of the Bank of Russia, stated that the pilot was “going as planned” and that more participants and use cases would be added next…
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