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Bank of Russia will conduct a trial of digital ruble settlements in 2023.

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The governor of Russia’s monetary authority announced this week that the first settlements with the digital ruble will take place next year. The official, speaking to Russian lawmakers, emphasized the crucial role the new currency will play for Russia in the face of sanctions.

The full launch of the digital ruble, Russia’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), should take place before 2030, according to the approved Financial Market Development Strategy of the Ministry of Finance. However, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) plans to begin testing it in settlements as early as 2023, its Chair Elvira Nabiullina announced in the State Duma. Quoted by Tass, she elaborated:

We quickly created a prototype of the digital ruble, now we are already testing with banks. Next year, we will pilot settlements in the real economy.

The CBR started trials with the digital ruble in January and announced the first successful transactions between individual wallets in mid-February. Five financial institutions are currently participating, and in the coming months, another seven banks will join the experiments that are expected to continue throughout 2022.

The digital ruble, Nabiullina insisted, will create new opportunities for Russia, its citizens, and businesses. It will be used by the government for targeted payments to support certain sectors of the economy and the social sphere. Transfers between individuals will be free of charge, while payments for goods and services may be subject to a small commission of 0.4 – 0.7%.

Speaking to members of the lower house of parliament, the governor emphasized that the digital currency will play a special role, now when Russia is under unprecedented Western sanctions. The CBDC is expected to facilitate not only settlements inside the Russian Federation, but also cross-border payments with its partners.

The head of Bank of Russia expressed her hope that Russian deputies will adopt the necessary legal amendments to set the ground for the digital ruble’s commercial implementation. Her call comes after earlier this week, First Deputy Governor Olga Skorobogatova emphasized the importance of moving forward with the digital ruble project and assured the bank will not delay the trials.

IMF: India is at the forefront of digital currencies, particularly in terms of how it manages cryptocurrency risks.

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According to Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), India is “a country on the forefront of digital currencies,” particularly in terms of “how it handles a reduction of risk from crypto assets for the Indian people and businesses.” She met with Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s finance minister, to discuss crypto regulation.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva commended the Indian government’s approach to cryptocurrency at an IMF press conference Wednesday.

Responding to a question about “what role India can play in improving the global economic situation so as to safeguard the interests of the most vulnerable,” the IMF chief said, “India already plays a very important international role.” She elaborated:

And it is a country that is on the frontline of digital currencies, especially central bank digital currency and how it handles a reduction of risk from crypto assets for the Indian people and businesses.

The IMF boss met with Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Monday, and crypto regulation was among the topics they discussed.

Officials of India’s Ministry of Finance have reportedly been consulting with the IMF and the World Bank on crypto policies as the government works on how to treat crypto assets.

The Indian government started taxing cryptocurrency income at 30% without allowing loss offsets or deductions on April 1. Crypto trading volumes subsequently plunged at exchanges across the country. A further 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) will soon go into effect.

Indian Finance Minister Discusses Crypto at IMF Meeting

The Indian finance minister raised concerns about the risks of cryptocurrencies at the IMF meeting last week. “I think the biggest risk for all countries across the board will be the money laundering aspect and the aspect of currency being used for financing terror,” she described.

Emphasizing that regulation is key, Sitharaman detailed:

Regulation using technology will have to be so adept that it has to be not behind the curve, but be sure that it is on top.

The Indian finance minister added that it is not possible for one country to do it alone. “That’s not possible. If any one country thinks that it can handle it. It has to be across the board,” she stressed.

Tobias Adrian, Financial Counselor and Director of the IMF Monetary and Capital Markets Department, said last week that “Regulating crypto assets is certainly high on the agenda” for India.

Meanwhile, India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), is working on a digital rupee which the finance minister said will be introduced this financial year. Earlier this month, RBI Deputy Governor T. Rabi Sankar said the central bank would go about launching a digital currency “in a very calibrated, graduated manner, assessing impact all along the line.”

“The digital rupee will be the digital form of our physical rupee and will be regulated by the RBI,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi previously explained. “The digital rupee will revolutionize the fintech sector,” Modi noted.

More Oversight of Cryptocurrency’s Environmental Impacts is Wanted by US Lawmakers

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Twenty-three US lawmakers have asked the EPA to increase oversight of cryptocurrency’s environmental impacts. They said, “We request that the EPA evaluate the compliance of ‘Proof-of-Work’ mining facilities with environmental statutes.”

Lawmakers Want More Oversight of Bitcoin Mining Industry

U.S. Representative Jared Huffman (D-CA) and 22 other Congress members jointly sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan regarding cryptocurrency mining operations Wednesday.

The congressman from California is the chair of the United States House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife. He is also a member of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.

The letter calls for “increased oversight of cryptocurrency’s environmental impacts,” Rep. Huffman’s office announced Thursday. In their letter, the lawmakers described:

We have serious concerns regarding reports that cryptocurrency facilities across the country are polluting communities and are having an outsized contribution to greenhouse gas emissions.

Among other claims, the lawmakers asserted that Proof-of-Work (PoW) mining contributes to “significant greenhouse gas emissions” and “results in major electronic waste challenges due to the highly specialized and short-lived computing hardware needed to secure the network.” They stressed, “The industry needs to be held accountable for this waste and discouraged from creating it.”

The Congress members also pointed out that “Less energy-intensive cryptocurrency mining technologies, such as ‘Proof-of-Stake’ (PoS), are available.”

Noting that communities around cryptocurrency mining facilities “have reported significant noise pollution,” the lawmakers emphasized that “It is critically important that the EPA uses these authorities to adequately protect communities across the U.S being disrupted by these cryptocurrency facilities.” They concluded:

We request that the EPA evaluate ‘Proof-of-Work’ mining facilities’ compliance with environmental statutes, such as the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act, and engage with the communities when reviewing permits.

“Further, we ask that the EPA investigate and address any harm these existing PoW facilities are causing communities,” the lawmakers added.

Many of the claims regarding bitcoin’s environmental impacts have been debunked. Ark Invest, for example, has explained several times that bitcoin mining is net positive for the environment, and concerns about the cryptocurrency’s energy consumption are misguided. Furthermore, Galaxy Digital published a report in May last year showing that the banking system uses significantly more energy than bitcoin.

In January, Coinshares published a report showing that bitcoin’s mining infrastructure accounts for 0.08% of the world’s carbon dioxide production today. The company further noted that “the usage of energy is a contentious and much-misunderstood function of the Bitcoin monetary system.”

Earlier this month, celebrity investor Kevin O’Leary said that “bitcoin mining is going to save the world.”

To comply with EU sanctions, Binance restricts services to Russians.

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(Photo Illustration by Avishek Das via Getty Images)

Binance, a digital asset exchange, has limited its services to Russian clients in response to the latest round of EU sanctions against Russia. The company promised to lead the industry in enforcing the sanctions, urging all major trading platforms to do the same.

Binance, the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, is restricting services for Russian nationals or natural persons residing in Russia and legal entities established in the Russian Federation that have crypto assets exceeding €10,000 ($10,800) in value.

The move is in compliance with the European Union’s fifth package of sanctions on Russia, the company said in an announcement on Thursday. Earlier in April, the EU member states agreed to ban the provision of “high-value” crypto asset services to Russian businesses and citizens in response to Moscow’s ongoing military invasion of Ukraine.

Binance now requires customers to complete their address verification. Accounts that classify under this restriction will be put into withdrawal-only mode, the exchange explained, and their holders will not be allowed to make deposits or trade. The same applies to spot, futures, custody wallets, and staked and earned deposits.

Furthermore, all deposits to accounts for Russian nationals and residents or Russia-based legal entities with over €10,000 will be restricted. Users with open futures/derivatives positions who have balances exceeding that amount will have 90 days to close them out and won’t be able to open new positions.

At the same time, accounts of Russian nationals residing outside the Russian Federation and those of Russian citizens, residents, and companies in Russia that remain below the €10,000-threshold will not be affected and will remain active, Binance emphasized.

“While these measures are potentially restrictive to normal Russian citizens, Binance must continue to lead the industry in implementing these sanctions. We believe all other major exchanges must follow the same rules soon,” the company stated.

Reactions to the conflict in Ukraine have varied among crypto exchanges. While major South Korean platforms restricted Russians’ access days after their country invaded, leading global platforms, including Binance, denied a request by the government in Kyiv to unilaterally freeze the accounts of all Russian users.

In early March, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao told Bloomberg the exchange was freezing the accounts of sanctioned Russian individuals but insisted that blocking all Russians from accessing the platform would be “unethical.” The executive also dismissed concerns that cryptocurrencies could help Moscow circumvent western sanctions.

Regulating crypto assets is high on India’s agenda, according to an IMF official.

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Crypto regulation is “certainly high on the agenda” for India, according to a director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). “We’re attempting to develop global standards for #cryptoasset regulations.” “I believe it is critical for India to adopt this as well,” the IMF official stated.

Tobias Adrian, Financial Counselor and Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department, discussed India’s crypto regulation in an interview with PTI Tuesday at the annual spring meeting of the IMF and the World Bank.

Adrian said that for India:

Regulating crypto assets is certainly high on the agenda.

“That is something that is done globally,” he stressed. “Within the Financial Stability Board, we are trying to come up with global standards for crypto-asset regulations. I think that’s important for India to also adopt.”

Officials of India’s Ministry of Finance have reportedly been consulting with the IMF and the World Bank on crypto policies as the government works on how to treat crypto assets.

The IMF director then commented on the taxation of crypto transactions in India. “Of course, I know that India has changed the taxation of crypto assets and that’s a welcome move.”

The Indian government started taxing cryptocurrency income at 30% without allowing loss offsets or deductions on April 1. Crypto trading volumes subsequently plunged across exchanges in the country. A further 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) will soon go into effect.

The IMF is looking at India in “a very positive fashion” overall, Adrian noted. He was quoted as saying: “I think there are many opportunities and growth (in India is coming back). There’s a recovery. There’s a lot of excitement around new growth opportunities, new developments … We always value that growth is inclusive, and is touching all of the people. But our general outlook in India is a fairly positive one.”

The IMF official also discussed the central bank’s digital currency (CBDC). In India, the central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), is actively working on a digital rupee, which Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said will be introduced this financial year.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi previously explained: “The digital rupee will be the digital form of our physical rupee and will be regulated by the RBI.” “The digital rupee will revolutionize the fintech sector,” Modi noted. Earlier this month, RBI Deputy Governor T. Rabi Sankar said the central bank would go about launching a digital currency “in a very calibrated, graduated manner, assessing the impact all along the line.”

Commenting on India exploring a central bank digital currency, the IMF director stated:

That could be quite important for financial inclusion and financial development, and we are watching very closely what India is doing. We welcome those policy developments as well.

Penalties for unlicensed cryptocurrency mining will be increased in Iran.

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Iran has drafted new regulations that will increase the penalties for illegal cryptocurrency mining in the country, including increased fines and prison sentences. “Mining cryptocurrency with subsidized electricity intended for households, industrial, agricultural, and commercial subscribers is prohibited.”

An official with Iran’s Power Generation, Distribution, and Transmission Company (Tavanir) said the country’s administration will approve new rules to increase penalties for unauthorized cryptocurrency mining, IRNA publication reported Sunday.

Mohammad Khodadadi Bohlouli explained that under the new law:

The increased penalties include raising fines by at least three and at most five times, imprisoning the offender, and revoking the offender’s business license.

“Any use of subsidized electricity intended for households, industrial, agricultural, and commercial subscribers for mining cryptocurrency is prohibited,” Khodadadi said.

The Iranian government approved cryptocurrency mining as an industry in 2019. In January 2020, the Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Trade issued over 1,000 licenses for cryptocurrency mining operations.

However, Iranian authorities said that some unauthorized miners are using household electricity for cryptocurrency mining, resulting in major issues for the country’s electricity industry. In December last year, crypto miners were ordered to halt operations to prevent winter blackouts. In September, the authorities reportedly confiscated over 220,000 mining machines and shut down nearly 6,000 illegal crypto mining farms across the country.

Adoption is increasing in Argentina, with 12 out of 100 adults investing in cryptocurrency.

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According to a survey conducted by Americas Markets Intelligence, Argentinians are very interested in cryptocurrencies. According to the study’s findings, more than one in every ten Argentinians has made a cryptocurrency investment. Furthermore, 18% of those polled expressed an interest in purchasing cryptocurrencies in the future.

A report recently shared by Americas Markets Intelligence has shown significant growth when it comes to cryptocurrency adoption in Argentina. The survey, which was made last year by polling 400 different users via smartphone, found that 12 out of 100 Argentinians had invested in crypto last year. While this number may appear low, it is actually higher than the statistics found for other countries in South America. Brazil reached an adoption rate of 7%, while Mexico had 6%.

The country was also above the average adoption rate in Latam, which was 8%. This is explained due to several reasons that derive from the economic traits of the country, where inflation and monetary restrictions have been affecting the population for years. However, the adoption percentage in Argentina is below the 16% found in the U.S.

Reasons for the Growth

The study analyzed the possible reasons for this growth in Argentina being over the total growth in South America and found three reasons that, combined, might explain the boom that crypto has seen in Argentinian and Latam markets. The first one has to do with the high degree of digitalization these societies have compared to the low level of banking adoption. On this, the report states:

Persistent mistrust of banks has limited the growth of digitization and kept the use of cash even as consumers feel comfortable with digital tools.

Another important factor has to do with the inflation and monetary volatility in the country, which makes cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and Ethereum interesting choices of investment and savings even when being highly volatile. The third reason has to do with remittances and the percentage that Argentinians have to pay to send and receive remittances, which is 5.5%. The use of cryptocurrencies sidesteps these platforms and lets users move their funds with almost no costs involved.

The study also sees potential in the future growth of crypto as an investment product. 18% of the surveyed stated that they have an interest in investing in crypto in the future, having never done it before. Of these, 54% stated that protecting their savings was a key benefit of cryptocurrencies.

The Argentinian Securities Commission has established an Innovation Hub to discuss regulated cryptocurrency investments.

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The Argentinian securities regulator, the National Securities Commission (CNV), recently opened an innovation hub with the goal of advancing discussions about cryptocurrency and fintech investments. This group will act as a conduit between private entities and the institution in order to bring new fintech and crypto-regulated instruments to market.

The National Securities Commission (CNV), the Argentinian securities regulator, is reportedly taking action to streamline the arrival of new fintech and crypto-based investment instruments to the market. The institution recently launched an innovation hub that will link private investors with regulators, to exchange information about the requirements these products must meet to be released to the market.

Andres Consentino, president of the CNV, was optimistic about the future of this initiative. He stated:

We are being proactive in the context of the emergence of crypto assets and fintech, to work together with the sector and generate a regulatory and policy framework in this regard.

One of the main concerns behind this new hub, and one of the motivations for its launch, is the number of cryptocurrency scams that have happened in the country since cryptocurrency adoption peaked. On this issue, Consentino stated:

This initiative also aims to improve the protection framework for the investor against the phenomena of quite unfortunate circumstances that usually occur.

This innovation hub might usher in a new era of regulated crypto-linked investment products in Argentina. This is the opinion of Andres Ponte, president of Matba Rofex, an investment brokerage company, who stated that these products will be launched in the short term.

There are two objectives behind the regulation of cryptocurrency investments in the country according to local sources. One is the protection of the investors that are seeking to put funds in crypto markets through the launch of regulated products. Another one is the benefit the national tax agency might enjoy from these products that, due to their nature, cannot be hidden from the AFIP, the national tax agency.

With the regulated instruments in place, the capacity for collecting taxes on these cryptocurrencies would be almost certain, different from what is occurring now, when most of the cryptocurrency movements and investments are made in exchanges and platforms outside the country.

In this line of thinking, a law project was presented in the Senate on April 1 seeking to tax all properties Argentinians have in foreign countries, including cryptocurrency, to pay a part of the debt the country has with the International Monetary Fund.

The SEC’s XRP lawsuit has ‘gone exceedingly well,’ according to Ripple’s CEO.

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The lawsuit brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against Ripple Labs and his company over XRP “has gone exceedingly well,” according to the company’s CEO. “This case is important not only for Ripple, but for the entire crypto industry in the United States,” he said.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse discussed the SEC lawsuit over the sale of XRP during a fireside chat at the Paris Blockchain Week Summit Thursday.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Ripple, Garlinghouse, and co-founder Chris Larsen in December 2020 over the sale of XRP, which the securities watchdog said is an unregistered security offering. Ripple has disputed the SEC’s findings, insisting that XRP is not a security.

Garlinghouse shared:

The lawsuit has gone exceedingly well, and much better than I could have hoped when it began about 15 months ago.

However, he noted that “the wheels of justice move slowly.” In November last year, Garlinghouse said he expects the lawsuit to conclude this year. “We’re seeing pretty good progress despite a slow-moving judicial process,” he said at the time.

Earlier this week, a judge ruled that the SEC cannot edit the contents of emails purporting to show conflicts of interest regarding how the securities regulator dealt with XRP and other crypto tokens, including ether (ETH).

Ripple is growing despite the ongoing lawsuit, Garlinghouse noted. “We’re having record growth,” he remarked Thursday. In January, he said that Ripple’s valuation has risen to $15 billion, emphasizing that his company’s financial position is the strongest ever despite the lawsuit over XRP.

Garlinghouse further explained at the fireside chat that if Ripple loses the lawsuit against the SEC, then most tokens trading on cryptocurrency exchanges would be similarly deemed securities and will have to register with the regulator. “That’s cost, that’s friction,” the executive exclaimed, stressing:

If you determine XRP as a security of Ripple, we have to know every person that owns XRP … That’s an SEC requirement. You have to know all of your shareholders. It’s not possible.

“This case is important, not just for Ripple, it’s important for the entire crypto industry in the United States,” the executive opined, noting that there is a lot at stake if the SEC successfully classifies XRP as a security. “It would really be negative for crypto in the United States.”

Oman will include real estate tokenization in its regulatory framework for virtual assets.

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The Oman Capital Markets Authority’s (OCMA) virtual asset regulatory framework will include real estate tokenization. The tokenization of real estate, according to an authority advisor, will open investment opportunities for both local and foreign investors.

Oman Capital Market Authority (OCMA) is set to include real estate tokenization in its virtual asset regulatory framework, a report quoting an advisor of the authority has said. According to the report, Oman expects to complete drafting the virtual assets regulatory framework by Q3 of 2022.

The advisor, Kemal Rizadi is reported to have made the remarks about tokenizing real estate property while attending the Real Estate Exhibition and Conference that was held in Muscat, Oman.

For the first time, “the Regulatory Framework for Virtual Assets and Virtual Asset Service Providers currently being established will allow the issuance of virtual assets such as real estate tokens for the first time in the Sultanate of Oman,” Rizadi is quoted as explaining.

The advisor suggested the tokenization of real estate — the supposed conversion of real estate property into several blockchain-based tokens — will likely “open up investment opportunities in the real estate sector for local and foreign investors.”

As previously reported by Bitcoin.com News, OCMA announced in January that it was inviting bids from firms interested in helping the country set up a regulatory framework for virtual assets. Interested bidders had to submit tenders before March 23.

Meanwhile, Rizadi is quoted in the report revealing that the capital markets authority is currently working with experts whom he said will help Oman “draft an internationally benchmarked regulatory framework.”

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