Yesterday, RBC.ru reported that the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Russia will launch a new crypto exchange for super-qualified investors.
The fact is that the new Russian regulations would require creating a crypto exchange from scratch, or launching crypto trading on an existing platform, but according to the words of the finance minister Anton Siluanov, the government would be opting for the first hypothesis.
The new crypto exchange of Russia
First of all, it is necessary to specify that this is not an already initiated project, as far as is known, but an idea referred to by the minister of finance.
Siluanov is said to have announced the idea during a meeting of the Ministero delle Finanze, and his statements were later reported by a correspondent of RBC.
According to what was reported by RBC, Siluanov allegedly said that the ministry, together with the Central Bank, plans to launch a crypto exchange for highly qualified investors, given that there will be a legalization of cryptocurrencies to bring operations in this sector out of the shadows.
On the other hand, the existing Russian brokers have already announced their willingness to implement tools for crypto trading.
The difference will probably lie in the fact that the traditional trading platforms already operating in Russia should not have special restrictions for crypto users, while the new State platform will be limited to super-qualified investors. However, for now, it does not seem that in Russia there is talk of allowing crypto trading on traditional platforms open to everyone.
The super-qualified investors
The new State exchange therefore would not be open to everyone.
The initial hypothesis of the Central Bank was to grant access only to investors whose investments in securities and deposits exceed 100 million rubles (1.2 million dollars), or whose income from the previous year is greater than 50 million rubles (600,000$).
However, the Ministry of Finance added that these requirements could also be modified, given that the deputy director of the Department of Financial Policy of the same ministry, Osman Kabaloev, stated that these are not definitive criteria.
In reality, the initial proposal of the Bank of Russia was different, and it was to establish an experimental legal regime (ELR) lasting three years that would have allowed crypto trading only to a limited circle of Russian investors during that period. Subsequently, however, the limit was “extended” to those who possess assets of at least 100 million rubles, or an income of at least 50 million rubles.
Those who do not fall into this category will not be able to directly trade cryptocurrencies, but only traditional derivative financial products based on criptovalute.
RBC writes:
“Any Russian citizen with the standard status of a qualified investor will be able to trade such derivative instruments”.
Crypto derivatives are also coming
The CEO for sales and business development of Moscow Exchange (the Moscow stock exchange), Vladimir Krekoten, stated that their trading platform is ready to launch crypto derivatives trading, once the new Russian regulations on cryptocurrencies come into effect.
SPB Exchange (la borsa di San Pietroburgo) has also declared that it has similar plans.
Other Russian brokers have stated that they are considering the possibility of providing clients with access to crypto instruments once the new legal framework that allows it is in place.
The CEO of the brokerage division of the financial group Finam, Dmitry Lesnov, stated that he believes the crypto market could become a serious competitor to the traditional capital market.
So Russia is preparing to open up to crypto trading, but only on traditional trading platforms and only through the exchange of traditional financial products.
The actual direct buying and selling of cryptocurrencies, on the other hand, will be made accessible only to a select group of wealthy individuals, and probably only on the State platform.
