The Russian government prohibits the deposit of funds into anonymous wallets. According to the legislature, this initiative aims to reduce illegal network activities such as terrorist financing and drug dealing.
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Russia at war with anonymous transactions
Online wallets such as Yandex, WebMoney, PayPal and Kiwi are very popular in Russia. They are used by about 10 million users who use them fully anonymously, recharging them with cash. Some people use these anonymous wallets to buy cryptocurrencies, although the exact numbers are unknown.
Economist Antonina Levashenko, quoted by the RBK, believes that these legal measures will have no impact on the blockchain market. Only that as Russia tightens its anti-money laundering or anti-terrorist financing procedures, the existing ban may eventually also apply to virtual currencies.
However, Maria Stankevich, business development manager of the EXMO crypto exchange, believes that the ban can only affect exchanges that do not take compliance too seriously. At the same time she believes that as a result the demand for such services may fall in Russia.
Unclear position on the cryptocurrencies
Recently, the Russian Parliament adopted a law on cryptovcurrencies which sets out general guidelines for the industry. The passed version of the law was less radical than the original version.
In general, Russia is a country that has no clear policy on digital currencies. Gathering the statements of important politicians or officials together shows what chaos there is in the country in this aspect. A few years ago it was even said that Moscow would issue a digital ruble (this was still at a time when Beijing did not speak openly about its plans of this kind). After all, nothing came out of the project. The very act described above was carried out for several years.