"For the last few months, the adoption of cryptocurrencies in Russia has been a pretty hot topic. The nation's President, Vladimir Putin, has been anything but clear in his intentions, with reports hitting press on both sides of the adoption argument. Some suggested that he was open to adopting Bitcoin, while others suggested the same but also that he would require it to be regulated and traded across a government controlled exchange.
Others suggested he would follow China's lead and outright ban on exchange of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and stop any ICO activity.
This week, fresh reports are hitting press and – it seems – that he's finally settled on some degree of adoption.
According to a recently released mandate from the Russian government, cryptocurrency regulatory measures will be in place in the nation by early 2018 and – concurrent to these regulations – the government will be launching two cryptocurrency agencies in Vladivostok.
The agencies are the first of their type in Russia and will be set up to perform two different tasks – one will be a crypto-detective agency and the other a crypto-advisory agency.
Here's what Victor Fersht, the director of the Inter-University Center for the World Trade Organization in Russia, had to say about the development:
“At the last meeting of the State Duma, a decision was taken to establish a state structure – a crypto-detective agency, the first pilot branch of which will be opened in Vladivostok and an advisory center for all those who want to start working with cryptocurrency.”
The advisory agency will initiate in mid-November and will offer services like seminars through which individuals can become registered crypto professionals in Russia. If the system is successful, expectations are that the two agencies will merge into what will become a much larger central agency in Russia going forward.
Let's see how things play out."
Author: Jack Dean
