Russia will have its own register of crypto-currency investors

As the newspaper "Izvestia" reports referring to a source, connected with the Ministry of Finance, the authorities intend to make the country’s crypto industry more understandable and more transparent due to the appearance of a special list of investors. Their identification will be carried out according to the passport and TIN. In addition, investors will have to pass through special certification to invest in ICO (initial coin placement). The experts interviewed by the newspaper approve the idea of ​​the Ministry of Finance. Nevertheless, as noted by the chief IT specialist of the bank "Otkrytie" Sergei Rusanov, such a measure does not give an opportunity to control investments on external exchanges.

The list of crypto-investors will be made by the Central Bank or the Ministry of Finance. Linking the crypto-wallet to the passport and TIN will not allow the payments to be done anonymously. Identification will also be possible with the help of biometrics. This information is also confirmed by sources in the Central Bank, the Finance Ministry and a number of business structures.

Anatoly Aksakov, the deputy of State Duma, head of the parliamentary committee on the financial market, said that it is necessary to identify investors in order to implement anti-laundering laws.

The Russian Association of Crypto-Currency and Blockchain (RACIB), which previously criticized the government’s initiatives in the field of regulation of the crypto-currency market, this time approved the idea of creating a register. The organization is already preparing a report for President Putin with his proposals on measures to develop and accelerate the industry in Russia.

The president of the RACIB, Yuri Pripachkin, notes that the anonymity of the ICO is disastrous. Currently, the problem is resolved through the KYC procedure, which stands for "Knowing Your Customer". This system is similar to the procedures used in the banking sector.

According to the estimates of RACIB, there are about two million investors-crypto-drivers in Russia today, and their number tends to increase. According to Yuri Pripachkin’s forecasts, by the end of next year their number could reach six million.

A number of experts, including banking executives, also support the idea of a crypto-currency register, noting that the activities of the Russian ICO are not regulated in any way today.

Alexander Bakhtin the director of the Moscow branch of BCS Premier has another point of view. He considers it unrealistic that crypto investors will easily agree to enter the single register, since this idea does not contain obvious indications of benefit to them.

In addition, it remains unclear what kind of measures will be applied to the crypto-investors who refuse to enter the single register.

Note that anological ways to deal with the anonymity of crypto-investment are also being considered in European countries. For today, European crypto-exchanges and purse providers must conduct verification and verification of their customers.