In our digest, we reviewed several important crypto-industry news over the past week:
- Russia plans to create a platform to manage confiscated cryptocurrencies;
- Russia’s Central Bank will get the right to block suspicious digital ruble transactions;
- British court: Craig Wright is not the creator of bitcoin;
- Central bank digital currencies are booming; US lags behind;
- India actively adopts blockchain to fight document forgery;
- El Salvador doubles bitcoin volume, exceeding estimates.
Now for more details. Reading time: 9 minutes.
- Russia plans to create a platform to manage confiscated cryptocurrencies
Russian authorities have announced plans to create a centralized platform to manage and store confiscated cryptocurrencies. This initiative was proposed by the Ministry of Finance and has already received support in specialized committees of the State Duma, including the Financial Market Committee. Currently, confiscated cryptocurrencies are stored similarly to ordinary physical evidence, which is inefficient for digital asset management. The creation of a specialized platform will allow the government to control all confiscated digital assets, as well as reduce the possible risks of their use in illegal activities. In addition, it is expected that in the near future the issues of regulating the circulation of cryptocurrencies will be resolved at the legislative level. State Duma deputies plan to approve the relevant bills on the regulation of cryptocurrencies in the country already in the spring session. Market participants support the idea of creating a special platform. They note that the current procedure for storing confiscated cryptocurrencies is not regulated, and assets often remain in the accounts of foreign platforms. The state platform will strengthen the state’s control over digital assets and help reduce the risks of using cryptocurrencies in illegal activities. - Russia’s Central Bank will have the right to block suspicious transactions with digital ruble
Russia’s Central Bank will have the right to block suspicious transactions with the digital ruble under a new draft law. A group of deputies led by Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the State Duma’s Financial Market Committee, has proposed amendments that would allow the Central Bank to assess the risks of transactions and classify digital ruble users by risk level. The purpose of the law is to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. In case of suspicion, the Central Bank will be able to refuse a client in transactions with the digital ruble and will be obliged to inform Rosfinmonitoring about suspicious transactions. The draft law also provides for a procedure for appealing against the refusal to conduct transactions. A user who receives a refusal will be able to provide the regulator with evidence that the grounds for the refusal are invalid. The Central Bank will be obliged to consider the information provided within seven working days. Banks, in turn, will be obliged to identify clients-users of the platform and transfer their data to the Central Bank. The new anti-money laundering measures are due to come into effect when the digital ruble becomes widely available in 2025. - British court: Craig Wright is not the creator of bitcoin
A British court has officially recognized that Australian computer scientist Craig Wright is not the creator of bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto. The court’s ruling was based on irrefutable evidence presented as part of the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) case against Wright. Judge James Mellor emphasized that Wright is not the author of the official bitcoin document, was not involved in the development of the bitcoin system, and is not the author of the original versions of the bitcoin software. The decision was welcomed in the crypto community. Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter, also shared the news, emphasizing its importance in bringing justice to the developer community. Wright, who claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, began suing cryptocurrency developers and exchanges around the world since 2016. - Digital currencies of central banks are actively developing, the U.S. is lagging behind
According to the Atlantic Council, 134 countries, which make up 98% of the global economy, are actively exploring the creation of digital versions of their national currencies. And more than half of them are already at the development, testing or implementation stage. China, Europe and Japan are among the leaders, while the U.S. lags behind in this direction. There are currently 36 pilot projects underway around the world, including testing of the digital yuan, with 260 million people participating. Countries such as the Bahamas, Jamaica and Nigeria have already launched their digital currencies. Thirteen cross-border wholesale projects are also being introduced, including the mBridge project linking China, Thailand, UAE and Hong Kong. Among the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), work is also underway to create their own digital currencies. It is expected that there could be a significant wave of launches by 2027. In Russia, testing of the digital ruble began in 2023, with mass adoption expected by 2025. - India actively adopts blockchain technology to fight document forgery
India is actively using blockchain technology to fight document forgery. So far, 19 departments, including the Supreme Court, have already joined the Blockchain.gov.in platform. The Central Board of Secondary Education has been the most active in this regard, having uploaded a significant number of documents on the platform. Education certificates, land registries and information on drug supply chains are now stored on the blockchain. The Indian government is confident in the effectiveness of blockchain, which helps simplify records, reduce paperwork and protect documents from unauthorized access. It is noteworthy that despite its conservative stance on digital currencies, India is doing its best to encourage the adoption of blockchain technology. This is evidenced by the National Payments Corporation of India’s partnership with the Indian Institute of Science to conduct joint research on blockchain and artificial intelligence. - El Salvador doubles the volume of bitcoins, exceeding estimates
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has announced that the amount of bitcoins owned by the state has doubled beyond earlier estimates. The cryptocurrency holds about 5,689 bitcoins in the country’s national wallet, which is equivalent to approximately $386 million. Bukele also added that most of these funds will be transferred to the country’s cold wallet. El Salvador became the first nation in the world to officially recognize bitcoin as legal tender in September 2021. Since then, the country’s use of the cryptocurrency has taken off: according to a survey conducted in 2023, 12% of the country’s residents used bitcoins to pay for goods and services. Bukele has repeatedly stated that cryptocurrency is not only acquired through purchase, but also through mining, government services and a citizenship program for cryptocurrency. After announcing the cryptocurrency wallet address, El Salvador has already started receiving digital donations from cryptocurrency enthusiasts.
Thank you for being with us. Crypto-industry news on Bit.team — always up to date.