Russia’s Leading Neobank Considers Adding Cryptocurrency Services: Report

Tinkoff Investments – the online brokerage portal of the Russian bank Tinkoff – could turn its sight towards the digital asset industry due to increased customer demand. However, the institution’s director Dmitry Panchenko added that the idea is still at its early stages as Russia doesn’t have the most crypto-friendly legislation.

Following The Evolution

According to the local media TASS, Tinkoff Investments could enable cryptocurrency services to its clients soon. The head of the company – Dmitry Panchenko – noted that the digital asset sector is a new technology where research and development flourish. The top executive added that the organization monitored this expansion and wished for a different landscape in the Russian Federation.

“We are looking at what is in the world and what is happening in Robinhood, Revolut, PayPal. We see this evolution, but in Russia, this is not happening.”

The director said the volume of Russian assets on cryptocurrency exchanges is over $15 billion, meaning that locals have been showing growing appetites for digital assets even if they have to stretch outside the borders of their homeland. As such, the government should authorize local financial service providers to offer products involving bitcoin and some alternative coins:

“In one way or another, people receive and receive outside the country. Potentially, it would be correct to carry out this service in the Russian field. So far, this is not possible legally, but the topic needs to be discussed and studied more deeply.”

Russians are not willing to employ the asset class as a payment method. They see it as an “instrument for investments and potential profit,” Panchenko concluded.

BTC Better Than Gold

A recent study doubled down on the statement that residents of the largest country by landmass view cryptocurrencies as an intriguing investment tool. 77% of the participants said they consider bitcoin and the altcoins as superior to gold, while only 9% opined in favor of the precious metal.

Evgeny Masharov – the man in charge of the research – pointed out that even though there are plenty of choices to store your money in Russia, more than 50% of the investors pick digital currencies as a savings option:

“Also indicative is the fact that more than half of the respondents invest in digital assets in order to increase their savings, despite a large number of various short-lived projects in this area.”

No Plans to Be Like China

A few months ago, the most-populated nation disrupted the digital asset industry with its (repetitive) total ban on everything crypto, and many experts wondered whether more countries would follow suit. As CryptoPotato reported earlier this month, though, Russia will not be one of them.

Alexey Moiseev – the nation’s Deputy Finance Minister – said the Russian Federation has no plans to impose a complete crackdown on trading with cryptocurrencies on foreign platforms.

However, if local investors operate with bitcoin and the altcoins inside Russia, they “will be subject to bans for the entire foreseeable future” due to the country’s monetary sovereignty, Moiseev specified.