"It is important to see not only the threats but also the opportunities in the decentralized system. Such financial innovations may have the potential for further development and for overcoming the influence of economic crisis," Peter Darakhvelidze said, adding that such opportunities are especially important at a time when Russian banks are being denied access to the global financial system by western sanctions.
The WebMoney Development Director's commentary comes after the Russian Ministry of Economic Development disapproved of a draft law by the Ministry of Finance on Monday, which proposed to ban the use of cash equivalents, including digital currencies, such as bitcoin. According to Darkhvelidze the Ministry was right to highlight the risks the current version of the bill holds for the businesses in Russia.
Darakhvelidze said that the use of digital currencies needs the same vigilance as the use of any other payment methods. "In most cases following the basic safety rules will make the use of cryptocurrencies safe," he added.
According to Darakhvelidze, in 2014 cryptocurrencies in Russia moved from being popular among geeks and tech fans to being used much more widely and the interest in them will grow even more if the Russian government lays down clear rules about their use. Major market players, such as Dell, Amazon and Wordpress also started accepting bitcoin in 2014.
Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency that was introduced in 2009. The currency was proposed by Satoshi Nakamoto with the aim of creating a currency independent from any government and easily transferred electronically with low transaction fees.
