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Russian Central Bank To Ban Websites Offering Crypto-currencies (reuters.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: Russia will block access to websites of exchanges that offer crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin, Russian Central Bank First Deputy Governor Sergei Shvetsov said on Tuesday. He called them "dubious." Russian financial authorities initially treated any sort of money issued by non-state approved institutions as illegal, saying they could be used to launder money. Later the authorities accepted the globally booming market of crypto-currencies but want to either control the turnover or to limit access to the market "We cannot stand apart. We cannot give direct and easy access to such dubious instruments for retail (investors)," Shvetsov said, referring to households.
Given how much money laundering takes place in Russia using state-issued currencies such as the US Dollar and Russian Ruble, its a bit rich for Russia to be worried about money laundering in Bitcoin and other crypto currencies.
The real (and unstated reason) is likely to be about control, just like China. They want to stop people being able to move their wealth into assets (cryptocurrencies for example) that they cant monitor, apply taxes to or otherwise control.
The hit for the Russian economy could be devastating when the recipients of the crypto trojan money have to go abroad to collect.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
bitcoin is overvalued on hype, serious economists say crash of the non-currency (electronic poker chips) coming soon