Recently, we have featured an article about the countries where Bitcoin along with other digital currencies are banned. In our list, Russia was also included, which is one of the few countries which stated that only Government-approved currencies can be used for trading, buying and selling items and service.
Well, Russia’s Central Bank may soon allow, but also regulate Bitcoin transactions, according to a short report issued by a Russian newspaper. While the dramatic change of attitude towards the idea of digital currencies is definitely surprising, this would further allow the market to develop in a country that is famous for having a population that is tech-savvy, especially when it comes down to platforms such as Bitcoin.
However, while the currency will finally be legalized, it will still be regulated in a way or another by the government. With this in mind, the Russian Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank and certain financial market representatives will all meet up during the next week to discuss how they will approach the concept of digital currencies in the country. Reports indicate that they are likely to go ahead and legalize peer to peer transactions, but also settlements of payments between individuals. However, not all transactions will be legalized from the beginning, so Bitcoin fans in Russia will need to wait some more before they can get access to the whole pallet of services and possibilities that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have the power of providing.
Legalizing the use of Bitcoin in the country also means that they might go ahead and unban a couple of BTC-related sites that have been restricted in the past. These include BTCsec.com, Bitcoinconf.ru and more, all of which appear to be fighting the ruling at this moment in time.
While there are still questions that we don’t have the answer to, things will change in the upcoming week, when all eyes will be on the national Bank of Russia, which will play an important role in ruling whether Bitcoin will be legalized, and if yes, which transactions will be deemed as legal.
Based on everything that has been outlined so far, what is your personal opinion on the Russian government finally doing work to further understand digital currencies and to hopefully unban them? While the effort is definitely worth appreciating, we are a bit worried about how the government will regulate the currency, along with what they think the term means. As Russia is a big market, expect a noticeable modification in the Bitcoin price as soon as the green or red light is given once and for all.