Share this article
Russia's Central Bank Issues Warning on Cryptocurrencies and ICOs
The Bank of Russia, the country's central bank, has issued a new statement on the risks of cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings.
By Stan Higgins
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 6:53 a.m. Published Sep 5, 2017, 3:35 p.m.
Russia's central bank has issued a new statement on the risks of cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICOs).
The Bank of Russia, according to a notice published yesterday, appears to be responding to the rising media profile of both ICOs – through which blockchain-based cryptographic tokens are sold in a crowdsale – as well as cryptocurrencies themselves within Russia. Indeed, even an aide to Russian president Vladimir Putin has said he is moving to hold an ICO of his own.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
The statement notes the "high risks" of exchanging cryptocurrencies, as well as participation in ICOs (described as "a form of attracting citizens' investments").
The central bank went on to say that, at this stage, it won't greenlight any cryptocurrency trading on any official exchanges, nor would it approve the use of the tech for infrastructure purposes. At the same time, the Bank of Russia doesn't serve as a financial regulator in Russia; that role falls to the State Duma and the Ministry of Finance.
The Bank of Russia said (in a translated statement):
"Given the high risks of circulation and use of crypto-currency, the Bank of Russia considers it premature to admit crypto-currencies, as well as any financial instruments nominated or associated with crypto-currencies, to circulation and use at organized trades and in clearing and settlement infrastructure on the territory of the Russian Federation for servicing transactions with crypto-currencies and derivative financial instruments on them."
The statements come on the heels of China's move to ban ICOs and more tightly control the ecosystem of exchanges offering access to those token sales. As CoinDesk previously reported, China-based ICOINFO froze its platform last week ahead of the news, and is scheduled to begin returning money to users this weekend.
This morning, Hong Kong's chief securities regulators issued a warning of their own on ICOs, remarking that some tokens may constitute securities – echoing statements issued by officials in Singapore, Canada and the US in recent weeks.
Bank of Russia image via Shutterstock
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Weekend Sell-Off Hits EdgeX’s Nasdaq-Linked Perp as $13M in Longs Liquidated
A large short placed during off-hours sent EdgeX’s XYZ100 perpetual down nearly 4%, exposing risks in equity-index perps when traditional markets are closed.
What to know:
- A newly created wallet executed a short worth roughly $10 million on EdgeX’s Nasdaq 100–linked perpetual, triggering a rapid 3.5% price drop and a liquidation cascade across long positions.
- With U.S. equity markets closed, traders cannot hedge exposure to the Nasdaq, leaving equity-index perps more susceptible to large orders and thin liquidity.
- EdgeX processed about $167 billion in perp volume last month, underscoring how fast-growing crypto derivatives platforms are pushing into tokenized equities.
Top Stories
