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An official from the Bank of Russia suggested easing restrictions on cryptocurrencies in response to the sweeping sanctions imposed on the country.
According to a Monday <a href="https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/8248900" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">report</a> by local news outlet Kommersant, Bank of Russia First Deputy Governor Vladimir Chistyukhin said the regulator is discussing easing regulations for cryptocurrencies. He explicitly linked the rationale for this effort to the sanctions imposed on Russia by Western countries following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Chistyukhin said that easing the crypto rules is particularly relevant when Russia and Russians are subject to restrictions “on the use of normal currencies for making payments abroad.”
Russia <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/russian-lawmakers-finally-pass-countrys-major-crypto-bill" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self">banned the use of cryptocurrencies for payments</a> in the summer of 2020.
Chistyukhin said he expects Russia’s central bank to reach an agreement with the Ministry of Finance on this issue by the end of this month. The central issue being discussed is the removal of the requirement to meet the “super-qualified investor” criteria for buying and selling crypto with actual delivery. The requirement was introduced in late April when Russia’s finance ministry and central bank were <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/russian-ministry-finance-central-bank-launch-crypto-exchange" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self">launching a crypto exchange</a>.
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 The Bank of Russia, Moscow. Source: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Central_Bank_of_Russia#/media/File:Moscow_RussiaCentralBank_M00.jpg" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Wikimedia</a>
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Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/uk-sanctions-kyrgyz-bank-9-3b-crypto-network-used-by-russia" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self">UK sanctions Kyrgyz banks, $9.3B crypto network tied to Russia</a>
<h2 id="what-is-a-super-qualified-investor">What is a super-qualified investor?</h2>
The super-qualified investor classification, created earlier this year, is defined by wealth and income thresholds of over 100 million rubles ($1.3 million) or an annual income of at least 50 million rubles.
This limits access to cryptocurrencies for transactions or investment to only the wealthiest few in Russian society. “We are discussing the feasibility of using ‘superquals’ in the new regulation of crypto assets,” Chistyukhin said, in an apparent shifting approach to the restrictive regulation.
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/how-a-russian-national-allegedly-laundered-530m-in-crypto-via-tether" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self">How a Russian national allegedly laundered $530M in crypto via Tether</a>
<h2 id="russia-s-fight-against-sanctions">Russia’s fight against sanctions</h2>
Russia has been hit with sweeping Western sanctions for years, and regulators in the United States and Europe have increasingly targeted crypto-based efforts to evade those measures.
In late October, the European Union adopted its 19th sanctions package against Russia, <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/eu-sanctions-russian-stablecoin-and-crypto-exchanges" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self">including restrictions on cryptocurrency platforms</a>. This also included sanctions against the A7A5 ruble-backed stablecoin, which EU authorities described as “a prominent tool for financing activities supporting the war of aggression.”
Earlier in October, reports indicated that A7A5 — backed by the Russian ruble but issued in Kyrgyzstan — had become the <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/sanctioned-a7a5-largest-non-us-dollar-stablecoin" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self">world’s largest non-US-dollar stablecoin</a>. In August, the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control also <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-treasury-ofac-sanctions-garantex-europe" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self">redesignated cryptocurrency exchange Garantex Europe</a> to its list of sanctioned entities for a second time.
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/cryptos-impossible-choice-when-privacy-and-aml-laws-conflict/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self">When privacy and AML laws conflict: Crypto projects’ impossible choice</a>

Russia mulls relaxing crypto rules to blunt impact of Western sanctions

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