Vladimir Putin voices his views on cryptocurrency for the first time

The President of the Russian Federation has voiced his personal opinion on the cryptocurrency issue that is currently being discussed by various members of the Russian government.

Vladimir Putin believes that while there is no need to “build unnecessary [legislative] barriers”, cryptocurrency could bring serious financial risks, it is used for financing terrorism, tax evasion, and fraud schemes. He is also aware of the concept of decentralized currency and recognizes additional risks it brings:

“In case the system goes down or, as they say sometimes today, in case someone creates a bubble, there would be no legally responsible subject. This quite a serious thing we must consider while discussing this topic.”

This position at least contradicts what cryptocurrency enthusiasts have already seen in China — for example, Putin said nothing specific about cryptocurrency exchanges holding threat to national security, as he could have easily done. While it is too soon to judge what is going to happen with cryptocurrency market in Russia, one could bet Putin and his high-ranking advisers are at least considering the regulative approach. And the latter is always better than total banning.