Bank of Russia drafts first regulations to launch cryptocurrency market in Russia
The Bank of Russia has created conditions for organised trading in digital currencies and digital rights. Each exchange will set out the trading mode in its rules as well as calculate the market and weighted average prices for these instruments.
Furthermore, the regulator has developed requirements for digital depositories. These new market participants, which will keep records of cryptocurrencies and digital rights, should have minimum equity of ₽50 million–₽250 million.
The exact equity amount will depend on the nature of a digital depository’s activity, e.g. whether it plans to work with open distributed ledgers or provide post-trade settlement services. The assets making up the equity should be liquid, and the financial assets included therein should be of high credit quality. Similar requirements apply to electronic platform operators, whose functions will be performed by information system operators. The latter will settle digital financial asset transactions using nominal accounts.
The regulator has also established rules for recording digital currencies and digital rights as well as the composition of data on deponents, persons receiving access to the system, and recorded assets. Moreover, the Bank of Russia has set requirements for the opening and maintenance of digital and other accounts. Actually, digital depositories will operate on the same principles as traditional securities depositories.
The Bank of Russia will keep the register of digital depositories.
All draft regulations have been published for regulatory impact assessment.