Source: Blockchain Knight
At a time when the global economic landscape is recalibrating, the Central Bank of Russia has unexpectedly spoken out. In its latest report, the Central Bank of Russia ranked BTC as the leading financial asset in 2025. This recognition came as a surprise from an institution that has been cautious about Crypto assets so far.
This shift highlights both the outstanding performance of BTC as an asset and its increasing integration into investment strategies even in a highly regulated financial environment like Russia.
In an official report published in May 2025, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) acknowledged that BTC has performed exceptionally well over the past 12 months.
The document states: "BTC has an annual return of nearly 40%, outperforming all other analyzed financial instruments."
The report provides a precise comparison of returns across a wide range of assets, from gold to Russian Federation bonds (OFZ), as well as stocks in specific industries.
In addition, the report states: "Since January 2022, BTC's cumulative return has reached 121%", which is a huge increase compared to traditional assets, most of which have returns of less than single digits.
The analysis is based on two sets of data shown in Figures 36 and 37 of the report, comparing the performance of various financial instruments over the past 12 months and since January 2022. The analyzed assets mainly include: Russian Federation Bonds (OFZ), which are usually regarded as a stable reference, but their returns have been very modest; Ruble and Euro deposits, which have not performed more than 5-6%; Gold, which achieved only single-digit gains during the observation period; Russian sector stocks (energy, transportation, finance, consumption) and the Russian Trading System Index (MOEX), all of which have underperformed BTC; S&P 500 Total Return Index (S&P500 TR) and US Treasuries, whose cumulative performance has also been surpassed by Crypto assets.
Although this quantitative endorsement was made within a neutral analytical framework, it breaks with the Russian authorities' historically cautious and even resistant attitude towards BTC.
It highlights the rise of an asset that, while not officially backed, is now emerging on the strength of its return performance.
Although the Russian Central Bank highlighted BTC's return rate, it did not ignore the inherent risks brought by its volatility. "In the first four months of 2025, BTC prices fell by nearly 20%," the report noted, a setback that severely shook the market and tested investors' resilience.
However, the Crypto asset market quickly rebounded, gaining more than 10% in April, helping to recoup the losses in the first quarter. These sharp fluctuations are a reminder that despite its attractiveness, BTC is still a high-risk asset prone to sudden pullbacks.
In addition to the situation in Russia itself, the Russian Central Bank's report also emphasized external factors supporting the growth of BTC. In particular, the launch of spot BTC ETFs in the United States and Hong Kong played a decisive role.
The analysis pointed out that "easier access to BTC through traditional brokers has contributed to the growing popularity of BTC," and emphasized that investors no longer need to master complex digital wallet technology.
In addition, macroeconomic instability, whether it is the depreciation of the ruble or the uncertain global environment related to the trade war, has prompted savers to turn to dollar-denominated assets such as BTC.
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