The number of ATMs, devices providing automated teller services for digital assets is growing as interest in cryptocurrencies grows, the Russian business newspaper Kommersant observed in an article. Despite the lack of legislation, there are presently a number of dozen bitcoin ATMs (BATMs) working throughout the nation.
When it comes to brand-new installations, Moscow is in the lead. The newspaper reported that 52 “cryptomats” have already been installed throughout the Russian Federation, with 14 new ones popping up in the nation’s capital this year, according to a statement from one of the businesses that developed them, Rusbit. That’s still a small amount given Russia’s size and population, but Rusbit anticipates a rise in 2023.
The majority of BATMs enable customers to buy one or more coins using cash or a non-cash payment method, such as a credit card, and subsequently receive the virtual currency into a crypto wallet. Some even advocate for the exchange of cryptocurrencies for fiat, however such cash withdrawals are not currently available on Russian vending machines.
Rusbit maintains its ATMs for 1% of revenue and sells them for between $1,800 and 3,600. According to the corporation, its operations are entirely lawful under the “On Digital Financial Assets” (DFAs) law, which took effect in January of last year. Similar to cash registers, the gadgets exchange information with the Federal Tax Service and verify consumers’ identities while logging their crypto addresses.
However, according to legal professionals consulted by the journal, legalities surrounding bitcoin ATMs are still “in the gray zone” The Russian parliament has not yet reviewed and approved a more comprehensive measure “On Digital Currency,” which would control cryptocurrencies and related activities more thoroughly than the DFA law did.
Ksenia Petrovets, senior associate at the law firm Birch Legal, claims that the current legal framework does not cover transactions involving the conversion of digital currency into fiat currency or other cryptocurrencies, neither of which are expressly forbidden nor specifically legalized and governed.
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