Antonina Levashenko, Head of International Best Practices Analysis Department at the Gaidar Institute, commented for Izvestia on the Bank of Russia's plans to monitor investments in cryptocurrencies and lending to crypto companies. In her opinion, banks' current investments in digital assets do not pose a systemic threat, and the regulator has already set certain limits for them.
The expert noted that the Central Bank has already recommended that credit institutions conservatively assess risks and set limits on investments in cryptocurrencies. “As an example of such a restriction, the Bank of Russia has proposed 1% of own funds, although it has not made this an obligation for credit institutions. In other words, there is already a regulatory framework for such investments by financial institutions from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, which means that there is no need to talk about the formation of a gray area,” Antonina Levashenko emphasized.
According to the expert, “investments in cryptocurrencies by Russian banks are not significant today and do not pose a risk to the banking sector.” At the same time, she linked the regulator's growing attention to the global trend. “Institutional investors around the world are showing growing interest in the cryptocurrency market, which is driving the Bank of Russia's move towards regulating such activities,” Antonina Levashenko explained.
“Moreover, an analysis of digital financial assets and cryptocurrencies from the point of view of the possibility of holding them in bank accounts (for example, as liquidity standards) shows us that these assets must meet the Central Bank's quality requirements. The key factors remain the quality of the assets, their reliability, and liquidity,” the expert concluded.