When it comes to the blockchain, Russia is a very complex country. The political positions on this matter depend on who talks to the media. A few days ago, Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin mentioned in a meeting of his high-ranking cabinet (in which Herman Gref, president of the most significant Russian bank: ‘Sberbank’ participated) the position he sustains regarding the use of blockchain technologies for the development of the country:

“Colleagues and citizens of the country may ask: Why do we need all this? We have oil, gas, coals, metals of all kinds … everything! (…) But we need to further advance. This is what we need, and we have to work for this”

He urged his government cabinet to speed up the march with the use of blockchain technologies by preparing professionally trained staff to work in this area.

For some time now, President Putin has also talked about the nation’s strategic interest in issuing its own cryptocurrency: the CryptoRuble. A kind of Rubble “ThETHer”, backed by Russian Government.

According to News Channel Russia Today, “The amendments proposed by the draft law … codify the digital financial asset as a legal means of payment on the territory of Russia” Such law was encouraged by Mr. Putin and submitted by a Communist Party MP, Rizvan Kurbanov

Likewise, following Putin’s interest, the Russian Blockchain Association also announced an ICO for a “system of guarantees for investment in cryptocurrency”. According to words by the head of the department for the development of elecTron (available on Binance)ic commerce and remote banking services Globex Alexander Mineev, the ICO had an accelerated but careful development:

“We assume that the project will start in March, then further development of its development strategy will begin” said Alexander Mineev

Russia also expressed its interest in the development of an official online payment platform based on blockchain technology. It might be developed with the support of Vnesheconombank’s. According to an official announcement, Kaliningrad governor Anton Alkikhanov believes a business agreement is of the utmost importance to accomplish Russia’s overall vision as a country:

“We are confident that Vnesheconombank’s competence in the area of blockchain technology will enable us in the region to improve the quality of management decisions,”

Other advances that demonstrate Russia’s “love” for blockchain are, for example, an announcement of its adoption as an instrument to optimize its citizen voting platform ‘Active Citizen’ in non-strategic matters 

Also, on March 5, 2018, Russia announced the implementation of blockchain technologies for exit-polls at the Presidential elections, providing a transparent, reliable and hack-proof system.

“Our project provides for storage of the data that we receive during exit polls at polling stations in a special blockchain bank. This will prevent any external changes to the information, decrease the effectiveness of hacker attacks and ensure the transparency of the data collection and aggregation,” says on the VTSIOM website

However, despite all these series of encouraging news, the political postures of the banking and the judiciary appear to be very different from those of the executive branch. Russia moved towards regulating cryptocurrencies on Thursday by presenting a draft law aiming to control the production and creation of virtual money. According to the wording of the document, the main argument against it still is the need to regulate a market used by people for criminal purposes.

“The finance ministry insists that, given the popularity of cryptocurrencies, an approach that is too strict would encourage their use on the black market and in the financing of terrorism,” says the Russian Finance Ministry according to South China Morning Post.

Likewise, another negative aspect to consider is that given the difference between the positions of the executive and legislative bodies on matters relating to Russian cryptocurrencies, the future of crypto trading in Russia could depend on the perception of the judiciary.

According to news portal Bitcoin (available on Coinbase).com the interpretation of the Courts have a clear anty-crypto point of view:

“The Vyborgsky District Court decided to block Bitcoin (available on Coinbase)info.ru in June 2016. The publication of information about the “elecTron (available on Binance)ic currency” Bitcoin (available on Coinbase), “a virtual means of payment and accumulation,” violates the provisions of the law “On the Central Bank of the Russian Federation,” the court’s decision read. Furthermore, that information “undermines the constitutional order and authority” in Russia and “the foundations of the material welfare of citizens.” According to the judges, the website had been violating the rights and legitimate interests of persons who had access to illegal information, and therefore was subject to restriction.”

This situation is worrying, as it could set a legal precedent that could be applied in similar cases across Russia, resulting in an official anti-cryptocurrency stance adopted by the country as a whole. It even generates a panorama of political tension due to the contradictory positions among Russian politicians.

Similarly, a few days ago, a surprising apparition of a bill, that attempts to criminalize the use and trading of cryptocurrencies shook the ecosystem of crypto enthusiasts (who reacted in a variety of ways on social networks ranging from anger and extreme joy to disappointment or discouragement.

According to Alexei Moiseev, Russia’s Deputy Finance Minister:

“(Legislators) must finalize the draft law, which will define the concept of ‘money surroGates’ in the legislation and establish responsibility for their use as a means of payment, This is necessary to protect the ruble as the single legal [means of] payment in Russia.”

Attending this situation, he revealed during the Vnesheconombank‘s conference that he “prepared a draft law on criminal liability for the turnover of money surroGates,”

His vision is simple:

“There is the ruble, and everything else is a surroGate.”

This would prevent the trading or adoption of any elecTron (available on Binance)ic means of payment other than the original Ruble.