The St. Petersburg Currency Exchange (SPVB), located in the Russian city of St. Petersburg, has denied a report by the Kommersant newspaper that a crypto exchange will appear on its platform.
On August 23, the Russian newspaper reported that two crypto exchanges would appear in Russia with the aim of supporting Russia’s foreign economic activity. One of them will open in Moscow and the second will operate based on the SPVB.
However, according to the SPVB, reports in various media outlets claiming that it plans to become a platform for trading cryptoassets are not true. Its approved development strategy focuses on developing its own products and services in money and stock markets, and does not include providing any services related to cryptocurrency.
The creation of its own cryptocurrency exchanges is probably necessary for Russia to circumvent financial sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union. In July, Elvira Nabiullina, the head of the Central Bank of Russia, said that the Central Bank expects the first cryptocurrency settlements under the experimental legal regime to take place before the end of 2024.
The statement by the SPVB that the exchange was not involved in the cryptocurrency project may have been made to avoid inclusion on the sanctions list.
