Non Custodial Crypto Wallets a Big No-no for Russian Banks

According to news agency Izvestia, The Association of Banks of Russia, which is an organization that includes 300 Russian banks, stated that storing crypto outside of centralized wallets on noncustodial wallets should be criminalized.

Non-custodial wallets allow users to store their crypto without the involvement of a third party. This means that no one can freeze, block or seize that user’s assets. Non-custodial wallets give users the power to be their own banks as they now have full control over their assets and what happens to their accounts.

This is, however, a no-no according to The Association of Banks of Russia. They do not support the idea of people being in control of their own crypto.

The association has developed a framework that allows them to foreclose any crypto that is stored on non-custodial wallets. This is according to the association’s vice president Anatoly Kozlachkov.

The framework in question was jointly designed by the association and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This framework aims to introduce criminal liability for people who store any cryptocurrencies on non-custodial wallets. People will also be liable if they refuse to hand over their private keys to authorities.

The association sent out a letter to various regulators, including the Bank of Russia and the Federal Financing Monitoring Service, which highlights the various aims of the framework.

In related news, the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs recently voted in favor of a regulatory update. This update could make it hard for exchanges to deal with noncustodial wallets.