Bank of Russia’s new crypto crackdown won’t affect BitRiver: CEO

The Russian central bank announced that it will work with local banks to slow down payments to crypto exchanges

In a statement to CoinTelegraph, Igor Runets, the founder and CEO of Russia’s largest crypto mining colocation services provider BitRiver, asserted that the Russian central bank’s new regulatory crackdown is unlikely to affect the firm. Runets explained that BitRiver acts as a data centre provider for foreign digital assets companies and does not own or operate crypto mining facilities. 

“We don't send crypto to exchanges, we have none of our own equipment and this bank’s move will not affect our clients because they operate in foreign jurisdictions,” Runets assured users. 

The Bank of Russia announced earlier today that it will be working with local banks to curb payments to cryptocurrency exchanges in order to track suspicious crypto transactions and prevent consumers from making emotional crypto purchases.

The latest development to Russia’s crypto crackdown comes days after the central bank asked local banks and credit firms to pay special attention to certain types of transactions, including crypto.

The first deputy governor at the central bank, Sergey Shvetsov told local news agency RIA Novosti that the regulators are considering the introduction of additional administrative and criminal liabilities for crypto-related cases and will be amending the law to remove any lack of clarity around the prohibition of the use of crypto.  

The deputy governor did not clarify what kind of crypto transactions are likely to be affected by the new crackdown but pointed out that the measures were being taken to protect investors from losses if the crypto market “crashes to zero”.

Runets responded to the news of the crackdown by stating that the tougher measures were long expected and added that BitRiver has been recommending its Russian clients use the platform's crypto data centres by setting up a foreign company.  

“From time to time we hear that clients want to make a company in Russia so that it is more convenient to deliver equipment from abroad,” the CEO said, adding that even those clients don’t have cause for concern as Bank of Russia will not go after a company when the crypto used does not enter the account of the Russian company.