Petr Sarukhanov/Novaya Gazeta< /p>
For a week now, there has been a discussion in Russia on the topic “what is cryptocurrency and how to deal with it”.
On January 20, the Central Bank released a report “Cryptocurrencies: risks, trends, measures”, in which it proposed to ban the issuance, mining and circulation of cryptocurrencies in Russia.
On January 27, the Ministry of Finance sent its concept to the government, according to which cryptocurrency should not be banned, but “turned” into an additional tool of fiscal control. If you want to buy bitcoin — please, but — «by passport», with registration, payment of taxes under the supervision of the Ministry of Finance itself, as well as the Central Bank, Rosfinmonitoring, the Federal Tax Service, the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the Prosecutor General's Office.
The President of the Russian Federation instructed the departments to coordinate their positions. The only question is whether this compromise will be economically effective
Generation Gap
Judging by the estimates of experts from the Ministry of Finance, about 2 trillion rubles are hidden in the cryptocurrency wallets of Russians. The central bank estimates the volume of transactions of individuals with cryptocurrency at $5 billion per year. It would seem that there is something to talk about.
However, judging by the data of the VTsIOM survey on the attitude of Russians to operations with cryptocurrency, the citizens themselves are rather indifferent to the discussion of the financial authorities. 64% — «heard something» about cryptocurrencies, 17% — «know well» about crypto, 19% — first heard about bitcoin from sociologists. This is, in fact, progress — five years ago, 30% of respondents knew nothing about bitcoin.
The ban on the purchase of cryptocurrencies could theoretically affect 16% of Russians who want to purchase «digital coins». But 81% of VTsIOM respondents are not going to buy bitcoins (especially since one in seven believes that the purchase of cryptocurrency is already prohibited in Russia).
Of those who “know something” about bitcoin, 74% said that they never bought it and are not familiar with those who bought it. 21% of respondents know the owners of cryptocurrency wallets. 4% of respondents admitted to owning bitcoins.
In their attitude to the idea of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation to ban cryptocurrencies, the audience was «divided into three» — 32% are in favor of the ban, 32% — «against», 33% — do not know what to say.
The older you are, the more bans you want — 53% of respondents aged 60+, who «know something» about bitcoin, believe that that it should be banned. Approximately the same percentage of respondents aged “18 to 34” do not approve of the cryptocurrency ban. Middle-aged people don't know what to say. Here's an illustration of the «generation gap», by the way.