The game of getting: the criteria may change for investors in cryptocurrency
The Ministry of Finance, together with the Central Bank, is considering the possibility of reducing the monetary criterion for highly qualified investors who may be allowed to invest in cryptocurrencies as part of an experiment, said Alexey Yakovlev, director of the Finance Ministry department, on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF). How this will affect the crypto market and how much the number of investors may increase is in the Izvestia article.
Investor experience
On March 12, the central Bank announced that under the experimental legal regime, operations with cryptocurrencies will be available exclusively to investors with a special skill level. This status will be granted only to those citizens whose investments in deposits and securities exceed 100 million rubles or whose annual income for the previous period was above 50 million rubles.
At the same time, the first deputy chairman of the Central Bank, Vladimir Chistyukhin, pointed out that the status of so-called superqualified investors, who would be granted the right to work with cryptocurrency assets, is not yet available in the legal field. If approved by the Government, appropriate amendments to the current legislation will be required.
Softening the criteria is quite logical, because it will attract more wealthy investors in order to test all the mechanisms of the "legal experiment" in practice, Alexandra Pushko, head of the HSE Head of Innovative Business program, told Izvestia. To obtain a reliable picture of the results of the pilot project, it is the number of participants that is important, since the higher it is, the more accurate the conclusions will be.
— However, as they say, the devil is in the details. It is unclear from the statement who will fall into the category of wealthy citizens who will be given the right to participate in the experiment. Are they the only ones with successful investment experience, and their total investments in securities and deposits should exceed 100 million rubles? Or other categories of citizens will be allowed in, "if their incomes over the past year amounted to more than 50 million rubles." In this case, investment experience is not required? — the expert noticed.
At the same time, the proposed monetary criterion, according to Alexandra Pushko, will not significantly increase the number of investors in crypto assets.
— The priority of getting "into the circle of the chosen" should be given to investors. Further, the number of participants in the experiment will depend on the choice at this fork," she believes. — If we consider that not all wealthy citizens, and they usually include those with a capital of more than 100 million rubles, will show interest in investing in crypto assets, then the potential base of the pilot is unlikely to be more than 5,000 people. If the choice is made in favor of experienced investors, the potential base of pilot participants may be 300-500 people.
The proposal to reduce restrictions on citizens' participation in the cryptocurrency experiment is a consistent and justified step in the development of the Russian digital financial sector, confirmed in an interview with Izvestia by Elmira Assiaeva, PhD in Economics, Associate Professor at the Department of Global Financial Markets and Fintech at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics. It is expected that the result will be an increase in liquidity: the more investors involved, the more active trading and the narrower the environment.
Also, in her opinion, the expansion of demand can push for the creation of new platforms and services, forming a more developed infrastructure. At the same time, an increase in the number of participants should help reduce price fluctuations, as a broad base of investors helps smooth out sharp market movements. In addition, it will contribute to more correct pricing and strengthen the competitive environment. At the same time, more serious protection for novice investors will be required, as well as control over the growth of speculative operations.
Possible consequences
With the set targets, we can count on an increase in the number of participants in the experiment, Sergey Katyrin, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, told Izvestia. The dynamics will be positive, although limited: the increase will affect only a few investors, but it certainly will not lead to a massive influx of thousands.
— I think this is also a plus for the market, as operations will enter the regulated perimeter, transparency will increase, and legal risks for investors themselves will decrease. The impact on prices and volatility of crypto assets within the country will be moderate, as the experiment sets a strict access framework, he believes.
The current criteria are extremely high and are available only to a small proportion of the population, said Elmira Asyaeva. With a significant decrease, we can expect an increase in the number of potential participants in the medium term by 30-50%, which can be achieved by attracting the middle class, who will have access to legal investments, and by increasing the interest of institutional investors who will be able to participate in the experiment.
— A key factor in the success of the experiment may be the creation of a clear regulatory framework that will help ensure transparency of trading processes. There is also the development of educational programs for investors and a well—established system of protection against fraud and unfair practices," the expert said. — In the short term (6-12 months), a moderate increase in activity is expected. More significant changes are possible with further liberalization of regulation and with the expansion of the scope of the experiment.
According to the current legislation in Russia, investors are divided into two main groups: qualified and unskilled. The former have the opportunity to work with a wide range of instruments without restrictions, from shares of foreign issuers, including companies from unfriendly states, to structural bonds and margin trading. The second category is limited to basic stock market operations, and access to more complex products is opened only after successfully passing a special test with a broker.
Earlier, the Central Bank put forward the idea of dividing investors who gain access to cryptocurrency transactions into two groups: within the experimental legal regime, the "superqualified", and outside it, the ordinary qualified participants. For the latter, it is supposed to allow investments in settlement derivatives, securities and digital financial assets that do not involve the transfer of cryptocurrencies, but their profitability will directly depend on the dynamics of its exchange rate.
Izvestia sent requests to the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank, but no responses had been received at the time of publication.
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