Russia Prime Minister: The time is now to integrate Bitcoin and crypto into our economy

It is necessary to integrate the mechanism for the circulation of digital currencies into the country's financial system, said Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. He stressed that such issues should be resolved only jointly with the Central Bank.

“Undoubtedly, such issues can only be resolved jointly with the Central Bank in order to assess the risks that cryptocurrencies create for Russia’s money circulation,” Mishustin said during a meeting with members of the Liberal Democratic Party.

He added that measures should be taken to further regulate mining. The prime minister recalled that last month the government approved the concept of the Ministry of Finance, which outlined these issues in detail.

In the concept of the department, it is proposed to carry out all operations with cryptocurrencies through Russian banks, identify the holders of crypto wallets and divide customers into qualified and unqualified investors.

At the same time, the Bank of Russia is actively advocating a ban on the issuance and circulation of private digital currencies in the country. On February 18, the regulator presented a draft law, which provides for a ban on the organization of the issuance of cryptocurrency and its circulation, as well as on the dissemination of information about it. The project also prohibits banks and other financial market participants from owning private digital currencies.

Translated article from Russian Broadcasting Corporation website.