The idea of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation to allow banks to work with cryptocurrency is in line with international practice, but there are nuances that may hinder its implementation. This opinion was expressed by Alexey Korolenko, Executive Director of Cifra Markets crypto broker.
According to the expert, the Central Bank is ready to expand the license of financial organizations. Switzerland has such experience — banks are issued licenses for operations with cryptocurrency.
For individuals, this is a clear and safe way to access cryptocurrency. In addition, banks and brokers already work with digital currencies through ETFs (Exchange Traded Fund) in global markets and bitcoin futures (a contract obliging to buy or sell an asset in the future at a price fixed today) on the Moscow Exchange, Korolenko recalled.
However, he doubted that banks should deal with deliverable cryptocurrency (when the transaction is executed, the asset is sent to the wallet) with integration into the blockchain (circulation of the asset within the distributed ledger). Firstly, the crypto business is different from the banking business, and secondly, it is a small scale, Korolenko explained.
The question is not whether banks can be allowed to crypto-exchange, but whether they are ready to build a full-fledged crypto infrastructure for the sake of a relatively small segment.
In early March, the Central Bank proposed to allow banks to carry out the activities of crypto exchangers on the basis of existing licenses. At the same time, the level of risk on such transactions should not exceed 1% of capital (the capital adequacy ratio is a key indicator of the financial stability of a financial organization). Foreign crypto exchanges can operate in the Russian market on general terms. To do this, they must register subsidiaries in the Russian Federation, the regulator explained.
Read more materials on the topic:
- Moscow Exchange is developing an infrastructure for trading cryptocurrencies under the supervision of the Central Bank
- New status of digital assets: the law on the seizure of cryptocurrency during criminal proceedings was approved on February 18
- Expert explained why Russia remains an attractive country for mining
