Expert reveals methods for the Bank of Russia to ban crypto

A local industry leader has revealed a potential mechanism for the Bank of Russia to ban crypto transactions amid the continued uncertainty regarding the future of cryptocurrencies in the nation. The country is confused over legalizing exchanges or banning crypto.

According to Forbes, the CEO of local crypto payment firm Joys, Andrey Mikhaylishin, said that the Russian central bank is reportedly studying numerous potential options to make its crypto ban feasible.

Banning debit card payments to cryptocurrency exchanges or wallets using merchant category codes (MCC) is one of the potential restriction ways, according to Mikhaylishin. The article says that the executive learned about the blocking method via Bank of Russia staff.

MCC codes are four-digit numbers that credit card processors like Visa and Mastercard use to identify a merchant’s key business operations. The 6051 MCC number, for example, is used to identify crypto transactions, whereas the 5411 MCC code is used to identify payments at food stores. The Bank of Russia, according to the article, might force local banks to outright ban transactions involving the 6051 MCC code.

Bank of Russia is the only regulator against crypto adoption

A member of the Committee on Blockchain Technologies and Cryptoeconomics, Maria Stankevich in Russia, commented on the matter:

“I am totally sure if they prohibit transfers to crypto with the right MCC, then honest exchanges are definitely going to leave the market and the remaining grey crypto exchanges, which will do miscoding, using other codes for transactions.”

Stankevich believes that miscoding penalties imposed by providers like Visa are insufficient to bring unlawful crypto trading to a halt.

The executive also voiced confidence about the crypto market in Russia, noting that the Bank of Russia is the country’s sole regulator that opposes crypto adoption. Recently as TheCoinRise reported, president Vladimir Putin also expressed concerns over the risks involved in crypto.

She adds that the world always knows that the Russian central bank is against digital assets and wants to blanket ban them. However, she believes that this will not be the way for Russia as the central bank is in the minority there.