Russian Ministry of Finance Proposes Inclusion of Cryptocurrency in the Government’s Financial Literacy Strategy

Ministry of Finance has proposed the inclusion of digital currency to the country’s financial literacy strategy for 2017-2023. The strategy was jointly developed by the government and the World Bank, TASS reports.

In his statement broadcast on the TV channel “Russia 24,” Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov explained that the inclusion of the topic of virtual currency is necessary to bolster the financial literacy of Russians. Such move is prompted by the interest in cryptocurrencies in the country is growing, even among children.

“In the strategy to increase the financial literacy of Russians, it is necessary to include the topic of cryptocurrency. The question of investing in instruments such as cryptocurrencies will, of course, be discussed, and we now see more risks than recommendations on investing in such instruments. So, explaining the possible consequences of investing in unregulated instruments will be one of the issues with which we will speak for the current year and until 2023.”

State of cryptocurrency adoption in Russia
The interest on digital currencies continues to grow in Russia. Based on a nationwide survey carried out by the National Agency for Financial Studies (NAFI) in July 2017, just 28 percent of Russians were aware of the presence of the virtual currencies, including Bitcoin. However, NAFI Project Manager Sergey Antonyan claimed that interest in the cryptocurrencies is increasing.

Moreover, at the all-Russian contest called Digital Economy: Generation Z that was held at the Horoshkol high school gymnasium in Moscow in September, Russian children competed and answered questions about such topics as digital currencies, chatbots, Blockchains and biometrics.

Meanwhile, the top five educational institutions in the country have integrated virtual currency into their conventional banking and finance courses. Among the schools, there are Moscow State University, Higher School of Economics, and St. Petersburg State University.