Russia will completely ban cryptocurrencies in 2022

According to unconfirmed information, yesterday a decision was made to agree in principle to ban cryptocurrenciesin Russia. Amendments to the legislation may take place in the spring session of 2022.

Cryptocurrency entrepreneur SergeyMendeleev wrote on Facebook about receiving information from two independent sources about the agreement to ban cryptocurrencies in Russia. On Tuesday, December 21, at an evening closed meeting, the relevant State Duma committee made a decision to ban cryptocurrencies, but no details are yet known. Several scenarios are possible here.

One of the toughest options is if Russiawill follow the path of China and even strengthen the ban to the complete exclusion of cryptocurrencies from the economy. In this case, individuals and companies will be prohibited from any transactions with cryptocurrencies, including mining, trading and even the ownership of public crypto assets, except those approved by the DFA law. Even criminal prosecution of cryptocurrency owners, proposed by some departments since 2018, may be introduced.

A less severe scenario involves expansiona ban on the use of Russian financial infrastructure for transactions with cryptocurrency companies. This option changes virtually nothing compared to the current situation, but law enforcement agencies and prosecutors will have more leverage over any business related to cryptocurrencies. Exchangers and branches of global cryptocurrency exchanges will be the first to be affected.

Amendments to the relevant laws are expectedto be submitted to the next spring session of the State Duma. In the absence of significant contradictions between departments, this can be done quickly. On Monday, at parliamentary hearings, the head of the Duma Committee on the Financial Market, Anatoly Aksakov, said that the Russian population has invested 5 trillion rubles in crypto-assets, so it is necessary to “put an end to their regulation.” The history of the ban or at least restriction of the circulation of cryptocurrencies in Russia stretches back to February 2014, when the Central Bank of the Russian Federation published the first information message in which it called cryptocurrencies “money surrogates.”

The head of the Duma committee warned that amonginvestors are those who do not have sufficient qualifications to invest in high-risk assets, to which cryptocurrencies can be equated. In connection with this situation, Aksakov urged the government to make a final decision on the regulation of cryptocurrencies. During these hearings, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev admitted that the department does not have a unified position on the supervision of the digital asset market.

Earlier, information appeared from independentReuters sources close to the Central Bank that a ban on cryptocurrencies may be introduced in Russia. This project is currently being discussed with professional market participants and financial experts. At the end of November, the Central Bank of Russia reported that the volume of transactions with cryptocurrencies in the country had reached 350 billion rubles. In December, the Russian Prosecutor General announced the approval of standards for the confiscation of illegal cryptocurrency and called for speeding up the development of regulation of digital assets.

Where is it more profitable to buy cryptocurrency? TOP-5 exchanges

For a safe and convenient purchase of cryptocurrencies with a minimum commission, we have prepared a rating of the most reliable and popular cryptocurrency exchanges that support deposits and withdrawals of funds inrubles, hryvnias, dollars and euros.

The reliability of the site is primarily determinedtrading volume and number of users. By all key metrics, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world is Binance. Binance is also the most popular crypto exchange in Russia and the CIS, since it has the largest cash turnover and supports transfers in rubles from bank cardsVisa / MasterCardand payment systemsQIWI, Advcash, Payeer.

Especially for beginners, we have prepared a detailed guide: How to buy bitcoin on a crypto exchange for rubles?

Rating of cryptocurrency exchanges:

#	Exchange:	Website:	Rating:
1	Binance (Editor's Choice)	https://binance.com	9.7
2	Huobi	https://huobi.com	7.4
3	Exmo	https://exmo.me	6.9
4	OKEx	https://okex.com	6.5
5	Bybit	https://bybit.com	6.3

The criteria by which the rating is set in our rating of crypto-exchanges:

• Work reliability— stability of access to all functions of the platform, including uninterrupted trading, deposits and withdrawals of funds, as well as the duration of the market and daily trading volume.
• Commissions– the amount of commission for trading operations within the platform and withdrawal of assets.
• Additional features and services— futures, options, staking, NFT marketplace.
• Feedback and support– we analyze user reviews and the quality of technical support.
• Convenience of the interface– we evaluate the functionality and intuitiveness of the interface, possible errors and failures when working with the exchange.
• final grade– the average number of points for all indicators determines the place in the ranking.

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