According to the head of the Association of Russian Banks (ADB), Anatoly Kozlachkov, many Russian banks would like to start working with digital currencies.

As Kozlachkov said in an interview with Izvestia, the country’s leading banks always support the development and testing of new products and technologies. At the current stage, the infrastructure for working with cryptocurrencies is modern and safe products that need to be launched, of course, if there is an understanding of the risks.

The head of the ADB believes that it was necessary to legalize digital currencies in Russia a long time ago. Now, in fact, only mining has been legalized, and other operations with cryptocurrencies can be carried out exclusively within the framework of experimental legal regimes.

“If the authorities allow legal entities to trade digital currencies, then you need to understand what will happen on their balance sheet. For example, if banks are allowed to trade crypto, it will be necessary to stipulate how such an asset should be reserved, what share it can make up in comparison with other assets, under what schemes it can be sold, and so on. This will remove all risks. These are common issues that are resolved in the banking industry. And we know how to work with them,” said the president of the association.

Kozlachkov noted that not only legal entities, but also individuals should have access to cryptocurrency trading. However, legislators must decide under what conditions this will be done. This may be a qualified investor standard, or new specialized criteria may need to be created. In any case, the head of the ADB believes that a super-conservative approach will be applied to cryptocurrency operations.

In September, the Bank of Russia named cryptocurrencies and stablecoins as one of the main risk factors for the financial market.