Russian Central Bank Honcho Says Crypto Mania Is Subsiding

By Prashant Jha

Elvira Nabiullina, who heads the Russian Central Bank, has commented that the enthusiasm about crypto assets is beginning to fade away. Calling the faltering momentum a “crypto fever”, Nabuillena reportedly made the statement about the falling number of its takers. Key Russian news outlet RIA Novosti reported on 18th October that Nabuillena said so while addressing a finance innovation forum called Finnopolis at the southern city of Sochi.

She iterated her belief that the public are now seeing cryptocurrencies through a lens of rationality rather than being swept up in a wave of hysterical enthusiasm about the crypto scene. She went on to term this phenomenon fortunate and said that people have begun to sober down and apply a greater degree of caution and rationality to blockchain technology.

The apex bank honcho also observed that there is a growing trend among entrepreneurs to seek out new ways of applying blockchain technology to their businesses to reap its many benefits. She also expressed appreciation for the ICO model of fundraising, saying that Initial Coin Offerings are a “perfect method” of fundraising for business. However, she warned against the possibilities of ICO frauds or scams in an added caveat, highlighting how inadequate regulations render ICOs unsafe. Concluding her comments, the honcho also said that the mass consumers had also begun to embrace digital currencies and allied technologies for digitization of finance.

Nabuillena has always maintained a rather conservative stance towards blockchain and cryptocurrencies, calling the virtual currencies “money surrogates” and proclaiming that Russian exchanges would never go on to list them for trading. She had also commented that the Central Bank under her leadership was staunchly against introducing regulations for the crypto scene or giving them equivalent status as the foreign currencies.

However, despite this well-publicized coldness towards crypto, ordinary banks in Russia have reportedly expressed a considerable degree of interest regarding including cryptocurrencies in their operations. In fact, according to reports from the country, Russian banking representatives had even organized a private meeting to discuss how crypto regulation in the countries like Japan or Singapore can be equated with the market in Russia and how the crypto regulations can be modified and implemented on Russian soil. The country is yet to pass a definite legislation regarding cryptocurrencies, with its latest draft bill still stuck in process.