Russia No Longer Sets up National Crypto Exchange – Lawmaker

Russia reportedly threw away plans for establishing a national crypto exchange, focusing on setting regulations for multiple crypto trading platforms.

Russian lawmakers scrapped the idea of establishing a unified crypto exchange as part of the Moscow Exchange after being introduced in November 2022, Anatoly Aksakov, the head of the State Duma committee on the financial market, was quoted by Cointelegraph as saying. The Russian Ministry of Finance was among the authorities that didn’t support the plan for a national crypto exchange.

Aksakov pointed out that his country would focus on setting new rules that regulate the establishment and operation of crypto platforms. He explained that since the exchanges will help businesses in carrying out cross-border settlements, restrictions may begin to be introduced against them because the crypto exchanges will set up local firms to avoid sanctions.

The Duma member suggested that the Russian central bank would be the supervising body and regulatory authority of the crypto exchanges. According to him, the associated regulatory framework will be part of the draft law on experimental legal regimes.

However, Alexei Guznov, the deputy chairman of the Bank of Russia, said it is still premature to talk about stock exchanges in the classical sense of the word, explaining that there would be organizations will help in the interaction between exporters and importers and in cross-border settlements in digital currencies. Such organizations will help Russian firms to pay for imports.

Meanwhile, BitRiver compliance executive Oleg Ogienko suggested that a new regulatory mechanism would help in reducing risks of sanctions and infrastructure cyberattacks in addition to eliminating issues related to the dominant market position.

It is worth mentioning that major Russian crypto companies were reportedly against the idea of creating a national crypto exchange, but they preferred establishing a regulatory framework for such organizations.