Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has said banning cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) is impossible, as the Bank of Russia continues to urge the country to ban cryptocurrencies in the country.
Banning cryptocurrency in Russia is “like banning the internet, which is impossible,” Forbes Russia reported on Wednesday.
The finance minister has reportedly said that regulating the crypto industry as soon as possible is far better than banning it, as it would eventually allow the government to control the market and increase the state budget through taxes from cryptocurrency mining.
“What’s wrong with this, I don’t understand why it should be banned,” Siluanov told a news briefing, adding that this was a simple solution to taxing the market. According to the minister, the government should withhold taxes on profits made from the amount of deposits and assets withdrawn.
“The central bank wants to impose a direct ban on cryptocurrencies and claims that this creates risks, primarily for citizens, and can “infect” financial institutions and banks and create an opaque settlement market,” Siluanov said.
He added that the Ministry of Finance is aware of these concerns, and therefore considers it necessary to reduce cryptocurrency risks from non-professional investors as part of the cryptocurrency regulation concept that was released in early February. Thus, the maximum amount for inexperienced investors can be set between 50,000 Russian rubles ($660) and 100,000 rubles ($1,300), the minister said. Earlier, Alexei Moiseev, Siluanov’s deputy, suggested limiting such purchases to $660.
Officials did not specify whether the potential limit would apply to monthly investments or any other period. The agency’s press office did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.
See also: Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Russia: Banning cryptocurrencies in Russia is “completely possible”
Meanwhile, the Bank of Russia does not support the idea of allowing non-professional investors to buy cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin at all, citing common risks such as fraud and money laundering. The government is also quite hostile to cryptocurrencies when it comes to mining and warns of “non-existent cryptocurrency” mining scams.
It is expected that after years of wrangling, the Bank of Russia and the Russian government will finally find a common language on regulating cryptocurrency in the country by Friday.
