Oliver Hughes, the Tinkoff CEO, said that both the bank and the customers are interested in adding a mix of crypto to the bank’s services. But the bank is held back because of the current stance of the Bank of Russia on digital assets.
The bank has revealed its interest in adding crypto services to the catalogue but understands very well that it will take time to navigate past the central bank of Russia.
Talking at the International Economic Forum in Saint Petersburg, the CEO revealed his frustration with the policies. Hughes said, “because of the tight position of the central bank, there is no definite mechanism for us to add that product to the list of our offering in Russia at the moment.”
CypherMindHQ.com Artificial Intelligence Crypto Trading System - Surpass the competition with this cutting-edge AI system! Utilize the prowess of innovative algorithms and amplify your crypto trading strategies with CypherMindHQ. Learn more today!
He added that the bank has many interested and qualified investors at the moment that knows what it takes to access the space and wanted to explore.
The Strict Policies in Russia
While there is permission for crypto in Russia to obtain legal status, there is no such permission for it to be used as a form of payment. The basic idea is that the Russian Ruble remains the only recognized legal tender in the country. This recognition of the legal status of cryptocurrencies in the country has profited the banks in little or no way.
In an interview with CNBS, Oliver Hughes mentioned that as it is currently, the bank doesn’t have any framework as to crypto offering to investors in Russia. At least not when he wants to remain compliant with the central bank of Russia. While the CEO agrees that digital assets are used in different illicit activities like money laundering and drugs, he believes that the bad is far lesser than the good if the country would ease the policies against them.
While the central bank kept the commercial banks off crypto offering, they have started work on the country’s CBDC called a digital Ruble. The central bank governor, Elvira Nabiullina, even went quite far as to mention that digital assets are the future of the financial system, but it was clear that the governor was referring to the country’s CBDC not allowing other counter currencies in the country.
At the moment, it is not only Russia on the quest of having a national digital currency. Both the U.S. and China and some members of the EU are working on the same quest.
