Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday criticized the Russian Advocacy Investment Forum in Moscow. According to the local news media lenta.ru, the president made the following comments in Cointelegraph’s translation:
“It is not supported by anything, [and] the volatility is huge, so the stakes are very high. We also think we need to listen to those who talk about these big risks.”
Putin called for increased monitoring and regulation of cryptocurrencies and noted that there is a significant spread of digital currencies in some countries around the world. At present, the regulation of cryptocurrency in Russia is still in its infancy. While the government is considering launching a digital central bank currency, at least eight federal laws and five legal tokens must be amended for the digital ruble to take effect.
In addition, there is no regulation in the country regarding the mining of cryptocurrency. This led some to say that $ 2 billion in cryptocurrency revenue is generated in Russia each year, but taxes are not paid. Due to the lack of a regulatory framework, the use of cryptocurrencies among the general Russian population has increased significantly, with transactions exceeding $ 5 billion annually.
In other parts of the former Soviet Union, cryptocurrencies are also gaining momentum. Kazakhstan has become the world’s largest Bitcoin (BTC) miner by hash rate, and the president is seeking to collect more taxes from these activities to fund the country’s spending. In Ukraine, the government is actively promoting legal cryptocurrency transactions. Last year, the Polish city of Olsztyn began implementing the blockchain Ethereum (ETH) for emergency services.
