A limit of 600 thousand rubles (around $7,800) per year for the purchase of digital financial assets for unqualified market participants will be effective from January 1, 2021, in the Russian Federation.
Unqualified investors will be able to buy digital financial assets (including tokens and cryptocurrencies) in the amount of no more than 600 thousand rubles per year. The draft directive of the Bank of Russia states that without the involvement of professional market participants, one could acquire asset-backed cryptocurrencies, and potentially apply for the rights to participate in the capital of non-public companies. The qualified investors will be able to acquire digital assets in “information systems organized in accordance with foreign law.”
Although the document will come into force on January 1, 2021, the regulator accepts comments and suggestions to it until October 27.
Dmitry Kirillov, who is a lecturer at the Moscow Digital School, called the threshold of 600 thousand rubles, or approximately 0.7 BTC for individual entrepreneurs and individuals who irregularly invest in high-risk assets, quite “an adequate safeguard against loss of funds.”
Those who wish to invest large sums can fulfill the conditions for their recognition as qualified investors. To do this, one needs to have money or securities in the amount of at least 6 million rubles or experience working with securities. Specialized education is also a qualification.
If these conditions are met, the authorities have the right to recognize investors as qualified simply by their application. This means it will not be too difficult to raise the investment threshold, Dmitry Kirillov explained.
