Rural Russia Prepares to Attract Crypto Loans

A proposal was presented at the Russian Expert Council for Non-Bank Credit Organizations to allow rural businesses in the country to receive crypto loans to attract funds from abroad. The chairman of the council, a State Duma member, is asking rural credit cooperatives to study and educate rural residents on cryptocurrency.

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Proposal to Allow Crypto-Loans

At the meeting of the Expert Council for Non-Bank Credit Organizations, the chairman of the Council of the National Association of Pawn Shops, Alexei Lazutin, proposed allowing microcredit organizations to issue loans in cryptocurrency.

Citing that “Today there are companies that are starting to issue loans secured by cryptocurrencies,” he was quoted by the Russian Parliamentary newspaper:

If we establish and implement such mechanisms that will allow us to receive crypto-loans from credit institutions, this will help to attract money to the development of the village from abroad, thereby contributing to the development of the Russian economy as a whole.

Rural Credit Coops Asked to Study Crypto

In response to Lazutin’s proposal, the chairman of the aforementioned expert council who is also a member of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, Evgeny Shulepov, said “Rural credit cooperatives need to master blockchain and cryptocurrencies in order to be in the trend,” the Parliamentary newspaper reported.

Rural credit cooperatives in Russia are voluntary, non-profit associations, providing services to preserve the personal savings of members through the issuance of affordable loans. Members are both depositors and creditors. These coops have been successfully established in a number of Russian regions including Volgograd, Rostov, Kaluga, Penza, Leningrad, Perm, Tomsk, Tyumen, Nizhny Novgorod, Yaroslavl regions, and the Republic of Dagestan.

Shulepov was quoted saying, “We will ask the rural credit cooperatives to study what blockchain is and what the general trends in this area are, to think about how to train the villagers in these technologies.” The publication elaborated:

Shulepov suggested that villagers study cryptocurrency.

Currently, Russia has no cryptocurrency regulation. However, the Ministry of Finance has published a draft bill and is working with the central bank and the State Duma on the details of the bill including mining and initial coin offerings (ICOs).

What do you think of this plan for rural Russian businesses to attract crypto loans? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, National Association of Pawn Shops, and Parliamentary newspaper.

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