In a recent interview, Anatoly Aksakov, head of the Financial Market Committee in the State Duma, the lower house of Russian parliament, said that the Moscow Stock Exchange might become a trading site for Cryptocurrencies , as reported by state-owned media outlet TASS.
Speaking to TASS, Mr. Aksakov said: “We have the St. Petersburg International Commodity Exchange, the Moscow Stock Exchange, the RTS, but they actually act as a non-profit partnership. Although they are also ready to participate in this process, and there are specialists in stock exchange operations there. I suppose that, the Central Bank is now considering the Moscow Stock Exchange, perhaps also the St. Petersburg Commodity Exchange for this purpose. But now there is a stronger urge to work with the Moscow Stock Exchange.”
Earlier in August, it surfaced that the Moscow Stock Exchange was building infrastructure for handling cryptocurrency trades. Also, reportedly, the exchange was pushing for approval to introduce Bitcoin futures, but the country’s central bank rejected the proposal last month.
According to TASS, Russian Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev earlier said that his office might join hands with the central bank to curate a list of stock exchanges which are suitable for cryptocurrency trading, and indicated that other marketplaces could also be allowed to perform such trades.
Russia has become quite a big market for cryptocurrencies lately. The country’s cold weather and cheap electricity costs are making it a favored location for miners.
But the country’s stance on cryptocurrencies is becoming very confusing. Earlier, Russian officials suggested that cryptocurrency could not be used as a conventional payment option, and according to many reports, officials are also considering dropping the proposed 'CryptoRuble'.
Officials drafted a cryptocurrency bill last month on the instruction of Russian president Vladimir Putin himself, according to which the state will impose taxes on cryptocurrency miners.
