Russian Official Claims Central Bank Has Approved First Cryptocurrency Exchange

According to a recent interview with the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, Yury Trutnev, Russia’s central bank has approved the country’s first cryptocurrency exchange, called “Voskhod.”

Also read: Bitcoin Is Becoming a Popular Investment for Middle-Class Americans

Russian Bureaucrat Claims the Central Bank Has Approved a Cryptocurrency Exchange

Russia seems to be getting extremely close to legalizing and regulating cryptocurrencies within the region. Last week news.Bitcoin.com reported on the Russian Deputy Finance Minister, Alexei Moiseev’s proposed bitcoin regulation, and the possibility of digital assets being listed on Moscow’s stock exchange. Now the country’s Deputy Prime Minister, Yury Trutnev claims the Russian Federation Central Bank has approved the first cryptocurrency trading platform for private investors.

“We are considering the possibility of creating a platform for trading with cryptocurrencies. The central bank has supported us,” explains Trutnev’s interview and further details;

The system “Voskhod” was the first in the country to receive the right to work with cryptocurrencies.

The Russian Energy Sector and Bitcoin Mining

In Trutnev’s latest interview, the Russian Deputy Prime Minister also spoke about bitcoin mining and the possibility of partnerships with the country’s energy sector. This follows the recent news of two of the nation’s energy companies, Evrosibenergo and Gazprom, possibly partnering with local bitcoin miners. Trutnev details there is an abundance of electricity in particular regions within the nation that could help the mining industry a great deal. Trutnev explains currently, energy companies have a hard time distributing the excess electricity.

“There are regions where there is an overabundance of energy — both here and in Siberia,” Trutnev details.

There is no way to redistribute this surplus to other regions, so you can create companies that will thus dispose of unconnected volumes of electricity, and people will be able to earn on this.

With the latest developments in the country, bitcoin just might be a legal form of payment in Russia after all the years of politicians being against cryptocurrencies. Senior government officials are clearly drawing up some sort of framework for the technology; it’s just a matter of when they decide to announce some formal legislation officially.

What do you think about the Russian central bank approving a cryptocurrency trading platform for private investors? Let us know in the comments below.

Images via Nikkei Asia and the Kremlin.

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