Russian Central Bank, Government No Closer to Crypto Compromise: Report

Russia's central bank and government are seemingly no closer to an agreement on the regulation of cryptocurrencies, a sign of how wide the spread between their positions remains, even after a document last week set out plans to legitimize the asset class.

Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina met with Finance Minister Anton Siluanov and Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Grigorenko on Tuesday and failed to reach an agreement, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the talks.
Instead, they decided to formalize their disagreements, Bloomberg said.
Last week, the government published a document setting out its intention to regulate cryptocurrencies. That plan appeared to have the support of the central bank, a turnaround from its earlier position calling for a complete ban.
In January President Vladimir Putin had called for the two sides to compromise so the country doesn't lose the potential economic benefits from the "competitive advantages" Russia holds in the mining industry due to its surplus of electricity. Russia ranks third in the world in bitcoin mining.
Law enforcement agencies are concerned they can't adequately approach crimes involving crypto, the document published last week said. In January the Bank of Russia called cryptocurrencies a threat to financial stability and rife with fraud, then banning cryptocurrency trading and mining in the country.

UPDATE (Feb. 15, 11:46 UTC): Adds context to first paragraph, Bank of Russia's January position in last bullet point.

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Jamie Crawley

Jamie Crawley is a CoinDesk news reporter based in London.

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