Central Bank of Russia mulls banning cryptocurrencies and crypto mining

Russia’s central bank has proposed banning the use and mining of cryptocurrencies on Russian territory.

Russia thinks cryptocurrencies threaten financial stability, citizens’ wellbeing and its monetary policy sovereignty.

Russia has argued for years against cryptocurrencies, saying they could be used in money laundering or to finance terrorism.

The bank proposed preventing financial institutions from carrying out any operations with cryptocurrencies and said mechanisms should be developed to block transactions aimed at buying or selling cryptocurrencies for fiat, or traditional currencies.

The proposed ban includes crypto exchanges.

Russia is the world’s third-largest player in bitcoin mining, behind the United States and Kazakhstan, though the latter may see a miner exodus over fears of tightening regulation following unrest earlier this month.

In August, Russia accounted for 11.2% of the global “hashrate” – crypto jargon for the amount of computing power being used by computers connected to the bitcoin network.

Reuters reports that the Bank of Russia is planning to issue its own digital rouble.

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