Russia Develops Mechanism to Restrict Citizens’ Access to Cryptos
The Russian authorities, represented by the Central Bank, can now use a mechanism to restrict citizens’ access to digital currencies. For this purpose, the Central Bank of the country, together with other participants in the financial market, will block card transfers using several MCC codes.
Andrey Mikhaylishin, who heads the crypto project Joys, has told Forbes the regulator can use the blocking of transfers using such codes through bank cards.
MCC codes are assigned to institutions where the bank’s client sends funds. Each type of payee is assigned a code so that a commercial bank can independently identify it as a supplier of any goods and services. The Central Bank can block the MCC codes of exchanges or crypto services so that Russians cannot send funds there to acquire cryptocurrencies.
Forbes has reported that the negotiations are currently underway between the regulator and the payment systems on the cooperation to block these types of transactions.
