Sergey Shvetsov, Bank of Russia’s deputy chairman has thrown his weight around Bitcoin, this time warning Russian investors against betting on the asset, which he believes is a pyramid scheme poised to tumble going under with investor funds sooner rather than later.
Interviewing with Reuters, the former soccer player and top banker who seemed oblivious of various accommodative approaches by central banks around the world towards digital assets asserted that Russian brokers simply did not provide access to crypto-assets, instead citizens used the internet.
“In this sense, it is not very clear who will conduct the testing, and we, unfortunately, do not have the ability to protect our citizens when they purchase products from foreign providers,” he said.
The crypto skeptic called on investors to only invest in firms that had been licensed assuring that they were safe since the central bank had control and oversight over them. Pointing at Bitcoin, he warned that the bank was unable to protect a person who used the services of an unlicensed provider arguing that there was no way to introduce the very mechanisms that are aimed at protecting his interests and preserving his money.
“Therefore, buying the same Bitcoin, a person enters a minefield, where, besides himself, he has no one to rely on, and no one can protect him. We also tell the citizens about this that there is no need to go where you are not under the protection of the Russian Federation, where your money will simply be taken away, and you will not be able to do anything about it.”
The top banker expressed concerns over cryptocurrencies stating that the industry was creating a lot of illusory wealth as ordinary investors jumped in, selling their property getting into deep financial woes in anticipation of frenzied profitability.
“Quite a lot of people are investing in alternative instruments, which we call financial pyramids, or technological financial pyramids, such as Bitcoin.”
He stated that the Central Bank was rolling out programs to educate Russian citizens about digital assets and the dangers of making investments in assets that “do not have a real economic process”.
This is not the first incidence that shows Russia has remained adamant in recognizing cryptocurrencies as investible assets as it has as previously reported, fronted a bill that sees to cap crypto adoption.
In the first week of August, a high tier Russian court in Sverdlovsk ordered Sberbank to unlock an account belonging to one of its clients, which had been blocked for trading Bitcoin noting that “at the time of the emergence of disputed legal relations between the parties, the activity of buying and selling cryptocurrency did not receive legislative regulation, and is thus not prohibited by Russian law”.
In mid-June, in an interview with a local newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, Bank of Russia’s Governor Elvira Nabiullina in somehow a comeback by her deputy also poked holes into cryptocurrencies as alternative investments terming investments in crypto assets the most dangerous investment strategy and cautioning investors to be wary of high risks involved.
Whereas authorities in Russia seem unwavering over the reality of a changing financial landscape, Bitcoin has continuously proven to be a pro-people currency gaining traction for its efficiency and economic viability among its Citizens according to recent data on Statista.
