Russia boosting crypto monitoring as industry regulation draws closer: Reuters

Russia's financial monitoring agency, Rosfinmonitoring, said it is upgrading its ability to track cryptocurrency transactions as Moscow looks to regulate the industry, possibly later this year, Reuters reported on Friday.

Russia has already identified some criminal cases involving crypto, Rosfinmonitoring's head Yuri Chikhanchin told Reuters. Going forward, the agency intends to discover transactions and blockchains that are currently hidden.

Chikhanchin said it is not possible to cover everything, partly because some countries are not working toward regulating the crypto industry. "It is very difficult when cryptocurrency accounts go into the unregulated zone and we don't understand who is on the other end," he said. "But I think we will still solve this task."

Blockchain technology records transactions, but not the identity of wallet-owners, the report said.

Anatoly Aksakov, head of the financial committee in Russia's lower house of parliament, said recently that draft legislation on regulating cryptocurrencies would be submitted in the autumn.

Aksakov also recently voiced support for a crypto market within the Moscow Stock Exchange, or MOEX.