On April 23-24, Moscow hosted the international Blockchain Forum 2025, dedicated to the problems of blockchain, cryptocurrencies and mining. The forum gathered more than 15,000 participants from 100 countries, including representatives of the Ministry of Finance, the State Duma, major Russian banks and crypto industry giants such as Litecoin, Bitget and TON.

(Alexey Korolenko, Executive Director of Cifra Markets, at the Blockchain Forum 2025)

At the two-day conference, participants discussed a wide range of issues related to mining, investments and other operations with cryptocurrencies. On the first day of the forum, a discussion was held on "Investment opportunities in the cryptocurrency world: prospects for Russia".

The participants were:

• Osman Kabaloev, Deputy Director of the Financial Policy Department of the Russian Ministry of Finance,
• Alexey Korolenko, Executive Director of the crypto broker Cifra Markets;
• Founder and head of the exchange exved.com Sergey Mendeleev;
• Dmitry Machikhin, Founder and CEO of BitOK;
• Alexander Shadrin, Director of the Legal Department and GR Director of Promminer;
• Maria Agranovskaya, Managing Partner of Agranovskaya and Partners.

Government representatives, industry participants, and experts raised issues related to the legal regulation of cryptocurrency turnover. We discussed the experimental legal regime (EPR), which is currently being developed by the Ministry of Finance jointly with the Bank of Russia. They also discussed organized trading in cryptocurrencies and the idea of creating a new, separate category of highly qualified investors who will be able to participate in such auctions.

While full-fledged legal regulation of cryptocurrencies is still being developed in Russia, it is already in effect in some friendly countries and allows Russians to legally use local services. Alexey Korolenko, Executive Director of Cifra Markers, spoke at the forum about how the legal regime regarding digital assets in Belarus works.

"Belarus was the first to regulate cryptocurrency, in fact, it was, if not the first, then one of the first precedents in the world. And since the end of 2017, the crypt has been completely legal in Belarus."

(Alexey Korolenko, Executive Director of Cifra Markets, at the Blockchain Forum 2025)

"Now we see the full acceptance of cryptocurrencies as a tool, as an asset class, and a calm, even attitude towards it from both investors and regulators."

In Belarus, cryptocurrency transactions are legal, regulated and licensed. In Russia, the situation is different: transactions for the purchase (including for investment purposes), sale, and donation of cryptocurrencies are legal, but there is a restriction — the use of cryptocurrencies as a means of payment is prohibited, as they say, "you can't buy a pie for a cue ball."

But the legislative consolidation of equality in neighboring countries allows Russians to legally carry out operations with cryptocurrency through Belarusian legal crypto companies.

According to Osman Kabaloev, a representative of the Ministry of Finance, the EPR is currently at the design stage in Russia. It is assumed that as part of this experiment, investors who manage assets in the amount of 100 million rubles or more will be allowed to participate in cryptocurrency trading. or have an income of 50 million rubles. At the same time, Kabalov explained that these issues are still being discussed in the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank, then it is planned to involve the deputy corps in the discussions.

Head of the exchange exved.com Sergey Mendeleev noted that the daily turnover of cryptocurrency and fiat exchange operations in Russia reaches $ 2-3 billion, and if we take into account all other operations besides exchange, this figure will be 2-3 times more. Mendeleev also drew attention to the limited number of platforms on which Russians can work safely. He explained that Russian passports are not welcome on American and European exchanges, and verification problems may also arise in other regions.

In Belarus, the crypto business is regulated by the Hi-Tech Park (HTP). This is a body that is accountable to the Council of Ministers of the Republic and reports to the President, which gives special guarantees to clients of crypto companies. The way to allow the project to the market is to obtain HTP resident status.

"Belarus has Decree No. 8, which fundamentally regulates the turnover of cryptocurrencies throughout the country. At the same time, the HTP, which regulates and, in fact, manages the activities of crypto companies, has developed rules and regulations for the activities of the crypto business.

Russian regulation of cryptocurrencies provides huge opportunities for investors and businesses from the Russian Federation to invest in cryptocurrencies in friendly jurisdictions," Korolenko explained.

He spoke about the advantages of government regulation of cryptocurrencies. According to him, the main advantage is clear rules for everyone, which allows industry participants to work with digital assets in peace.

 (Alexey Korolenko, Executive Director of Cifra Markets, at the Blockchain Forum 2025)

"When banks, governments and players understand perfectly well that it is legal and safe to work with cryptocurrencies, this creates a calm and correct attitude towards the development of the market. And the market, even in such a small country, is developing, the population is quietly investing in cryptocurrency, and this is an absolute blessing."

According to Alexey Korolenko, the company's infrastructure operates in a jurisdiction with government regulation and a transparent legal regime, which allows operations with digital assets to be carried out in accordance with legal requirements. Cifra Markets offers an alternative to foreign exchanges where there are risks of asset freezes under the sanctions regime.

The company pays special attention to ensuring a secure exchange: users can either purchase USDT stablecoin for Russian rubles, or exchange USDT for rubles.

Cifra Markets is a subsidiary of Cifra Broker LLC. The platform provides access to digital assets under a regulated model based on partnerships with a number of Russian and Belarusian banks.

Due to the specifics of the jurisdiction and well-established interaction with financial institutions, users can conduct transactions with digital assets in rubles, including using Mir payment system cards.

The company emphasizes that the Cifra Markets infrastructure is focused on compliance with legislation and security requirements. The platform implements KYC and compliance procedures, verification of the origin of funds, and audit of transactions in accordance with the provisions of Federal Law 115-FZ on combating money laundering.