There are now more bitcoin ATMs in Russia, but some industry participants worry that, given the legislative uncertainty, officials may seize control of these ATMs.
RUSSIA SEES AN INCREASE IN ATM CRYPTOS
Despite the absence of legislative certainty in this sector, 52 bitcoin ATMs have been installed in Russia, according to an article in the business daily Kommersant.
According to the media, which cites Rusbit, one of the organizations who installed these machines, Moscow would have the highest concentration of ATM cryptocurrency distribution, with 14 distributors. The business asserts that it is doing its business in accordance with the Digital Financial Assets Act, which became effective in January of last year.
This legislation on digital financial assets, in the opinion of some attorneys, only partly governs cryptocurrencies and associated activities. Legally speaking, crypto ATMs would afterwards be in a limbo as they awaited the adoption of a more complete cryptocurrency bill by the Russian Parliament.
The existing regulation does not cover the conversion of cryptocurrencies into fiat currency or into other cryptocurrencies, according to Ksenia Petrovets, senior partner at the law firm Birch Legal. The legislation does not expressly permit or forbid certain activities.
Sergey Mendeleev, CEO of the DeFi platform Indefibank, suggests that the government may seize these cryptocurrency ATMs. The Russian central bank had ordered the seizure of 22 Bbfpro distributors of cryptocurrency in 2018.
DISTRIBUTORS OF FISC-FRIENDLY CRYPTOS
As a result of regulatory ambiguity, the future of these cryptocurrency ATMs in Russia is now unknown. The Federal Tax Service receives the information from these vendors. Additionally, they request that their clients undergo an identity verification process, namely by providing their crypto addresses.
The majority of these cryptocurrency ATMs let you purchase bitcoin with cash or a credit card. The buyer’s wallet is subsequently provided with the acquired cryptocurrency. Distributors in Russia, on the other hand, would not permit cash withdrawals in exchange for the sale of cryptocurrencies.
These distributors provide intriguing options for Russian investors looking to purchase cryptocurrencies in light of the closure of cryptocurrency exchanges for citizens of that nation.
