The total amount of digital assets accumulated by Russians and Russian companies may reach $40 billion, according to Alexander Vedyakhin, First Deputy Chairman of Sberbank’s Management Board.
Vedyakhin, the First Deputy Chairman of the largest Russian bank, stated that Sberbank’s experts have observed a high demand for cryptocurrencies among investors. According to the state-owned bank’s estimates, the number of Russian citizens using cryptocurrencies may reach 10 million.
«Cryptocurrencies are popular among Russians. According to our calculations, the total volume of digital assets held by individuals and companies can be estimated at least at $40 billion. If we look at global turnover, it already amounts to trillions of dollars per month. I believe that market participants are ready to actively enter this market,» said Vedyakhin.
Sber has proposed that the authorities allow transactions with cryptocurrencies not only for «super-qualified investors.»
«My proposal is to simply move quickly and expand the scope of the experimental legal regime to qualified investors in their current classification,» Vedyakhin said.
Sergey Shvetsov, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Moscow Exchange, supported the state banker, stating that the fastest and easiest way to launch large-scale cryptocurrency transactions in the Russian market is to recognize them as exchange-traded commodities.
«I believe that the fastest way to achieve this in our legal framework is to recognize Bitcoin as an exchange-traded commodity. We have all the licenses, and we have all the regulations. We don’t need to pass laws that put millions of people in an illegal position. Our goal is to reduce risks, not to paint people black,» Shvetsov said.
Earlier, Vladimir Chistyukhin, First Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia, said that Russian commercial banks can obtain permission from the authorities to work with cryptocurrencies, subject to strict restrictions on capital size and reserve requirements.
