A changing bureau which exchanges Bitcoins for rubles has opened up right on the doorstep of the Central Bank of Russia, which is vocally against cryptocurrencies.
The crypto exchange office is located on Verhniy Susalniy street near Moscow railway station Kurskiy Vokzal, right between Tabaco and Chicken-grill shop. It sells and buys Bitcoins for cash and positions itself as the first Russian cryptocurrency exchange office, Business News Agency Prime reports.
Law does not forbid
While there are no laws regulating cryptocurrency trading in Russia as of yet, the management of the exchange office claims that their business is fully legitimate as it complies with the existing legislation.
“Currently, there are no laws that explicitly forbid dealing with Bitcoins. Consequently, buying and selling Bitcoins is not in breach with the Civil Code and it is not considered to be a malpractice. All our operations fall within the scope of the Civil Code and are not prohibited. We are working in compliance with the regulations applicable to currency exchange offices,” Alexei Ivanov, PR manager of Sbercoin explained.
He also added that currently Sbercoin works only with Bitcoin and has only one office, but the company plans to expand the list of tradable cryptocurrencies and the number of street offices.
Come to Sbercoin, buy some cryptos
Sbercoin positions itself as a company that makes Bitcoin accessible to ordinary people of any age, background and financial position.
The procedure is simple and straightforward. To buy or sell cryptocurrency, a customer shall present a passport, sign a contract and buy some coins, which are deposited on the crypto wallet opened by Sbercoin managers. The minimum purchase amount is 3,000 rubles (about $50), with 1% the transaction fee. Buyers get plastic cards with public keys and an envelope with the private key printed on a piece of paper. When customers withdraw some money from their wallet, they get new plastic cards and new envelopes.
While the company claims that the whole process is absolutely safe, the enveloped private keys raise some questions. It’s perfectly normal to get the PIN to a credit card on a sheet of paper, but the cryptocurrency world has its own security rules.
Branding issues
There are issues regarding branding though, as Sbercoin’s corporate colors, office and website design (not to mention the name) are somewhat misleading as they resemble those of Sberbank, the largest Russian credit institution. Meanwhile, Sberbank press-service confirmed that it is not connected to the crypto exchange office in any way.
“Sberbank is constantly monitoring the observance of its intellectual property rights; we will take all necessary measures in relation to this case,” the bank’s representative was reported saying.
This article appeared first on Cryptovest
