The key factor shaping today’s economic agenda is the sanction war and the world’s accelerated retreat from globalization, according to Artem Genkin, economist, Doctor of Economic Sciences, and Professor, who spoke on the Moscow Lawyers podcast. Genkin added that we live in a new world that is rapidly moving away from globalization, with blocs forming in place of a single market.
“We live in an era of defragmentation, where there is no integrated global economic space,” emphasized the expert.
These changes are directly reflected in law: legal systems are becoming more isolated, and a “patchwork quilt of regulatory regimes” is taking shape in the cryptoasset market.
Artem Genkin listed three approaches currently dominant in the world: from a complete ban to a defiant refusal to regulate. He described the Russian model as partial legalization: the country has specific legislation, but “only a portion of the operations in this market have legitimacy within our legal system.”
The economist also explained the nature of stablecoins: they are “quasi-monetary instruments” that are not fiat but can be pegged to the value of an underlying asset, most often the US dollar or euro. According to him, instruments pegged to the Russian ruble have also emerged on the market.
A separate part of the conversation focused on the prospects for cryptocurrency regulation in Russia. According to the expert, the regulator plans to develop legislation in this area by 2026, as well as expand the range of participants: currently, operations are possible within experimental regimes for “super-qualified” investors; next, “qualified” investors will be considered, and there is hope that retail investors will eventually gain access.
As the crypto market matures, Artem Genkin notes the convergence of blockchain services with traditional finance: major DeFi platforms have been forced to integrate KYC/AML procedures to gain legitimacy and scale:
“Technology plus legitimacy equals economic success.”