Russian PM says lack of cryptocurrency regulation menaces markets

MOSCOW, Sep 8 (PRIME) -- The blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies expand market potential, but they may pose a threat for the markets if there are no common rules for their use, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday at the Moscow Financial Forum.

“We should understand that the digit is simultaneously a colossal breakthrough and a colossal challenge. It’s well evident in the example of the financial sector. Distributed ledger technologies, like blockchain, cryptocurrencies, smart-contracts expand opportunities of markets, on the one hand. On the other hand, however, a lack of common rules of use of these tools puts the same markets under threat,” Medvedev said.

“This is why now major global banks are negotiating cooperation. The Russian banking community is also starting to elaborate its own approaches.”

The technological transformation can boost labor productivity, or kill some professions, strengthen the risks of polarization of people’s incomes. “It’s of critical importance for us to be ready for new challenges in such key state institutions, as education, healthcare, social assistance, and employment, along with the modernization of the state apparatus to digitalize all standard, routine operations,” the prime minister said.

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