Russia’s finance ministry has urged the government to expedite the implementation of cryptocurrency regulations in response to soaring adoption rates. Reports indicate that citizens are conducting cryptocurrency transactions worth nearly 50 billion rubles daily (~$648 million), which sums up to a staggering annual total of $129.4 billion.

According to a report from RBC on Thursday, Ivan Chebeskov, Russia’s deputy finance minister, highlighted the need for market regulation, mentioning that a significant portion of crypto transactions happens through unregulated channels. He stated:

“We have always said that millions of citizens are involved in this activity, these are trillions of rubles from the point of view of citizens in use, in savings.”

Chebeskov added:

“One of the figures, about 50 billion rubles per day is the turnover of crypto in our country. That is a turnover of more than 10 trillion rubles per year, which is now happening outside the regulated zone, outside our attention.”

The deputy minister’s comments come at a time when both the European Union and the U.S. have raised concerns about Russia’s utilization of cryptocurrency to evade sanctions. In a previous policy proposal, Russia’s central bank sought to allow both qualified and non-qualified investors access to certain cryptocurrencies.

At the Alfa Talk conference session, Vladimir Chistyukhin, the first deputy chairman of the Central Bank of Russia, expressed a wish for the adoption of regulatory frameworks during the upcoming spring session of the State Duma.