Russia will block access to websites of exchanges that offer cryptocurrencies, Russian Central Bank’s First Deputy Governor Sergei Shvetsov said on Tuesday, Reuters reports.
Speaking at a conference on financial market derivatives he warned that cryptocurrencies gradually transform into high-yielding assets from being a mean of payment.
“We cannot stand apart. We cannot give direct and easy access to such dubious instruments for retail investors,” Shvetsov said.
“We think that for our citizens, for businesses the usage of such cryptocurrencies as an investment object carries unreasonably high risks,” he added.
Russian authorities said earlier this year they would like to regulate the use of cryptocurrencies by Russian citizens and companies.
In September China’s central bank the People’s Bank of China proclaimed initial coin offerings (ICOs) illegal and demanded all related fundraising activity to be halted immediately. South Korea’s Financial Services Commission also took the decision to ban all forms of cryptocurrency-based money raising activity.