Russian lawmakers gear up for cryptocurrency bill presentation next week
The bill defines cryptocurrency as “an alternative form of property”. There is no mention of a particular cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin, in it.
Russian lawmakers are getting ready for the presentation of a bill for the regulation of cryptocurrencies, with the presentation to happen on December 28, 2017. The announcement was made today by Anatoly Aksakov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, who was quoted by Russian information agency TASS.
The bill defines cryptocurrency as “an alternative form of property”. There is no mention of a particular cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin, in the document, Mr Aksakov said. He added, however, that this version of the bill will be subject to what he expects to be heated discussions.
Mr Aksakov forecasts that the final version of the document will be ready in March 2018.
The steps taken by the Duma are in response to orders issued by Russia’s president Vladimir Putin in October 2017. Back then, Putin said the Government and the Central Bank have until July 1, 2018 to make sure that certain changes are introduced to the Russian legislation. These changes should determine the status of digital technologies used in the financial segment and should cover the associated concepts, including: distributed ledger technologies, cryptocurrency, token and smart-contracts. These changes should reflect the fact that the Russian ruble will remain the single legal payment means in the Russian Federation.
The legislative changes should cover mining and the way this activity should be taxed. The registration and regulation of the entities executing such activities should also be specified in the legislative changes. The changes should also address the funding using tokens.
The Russian authorities have recently been negative as to Bitcoin and its likes, as well as regarding initial coin offerings. In September, the Central Bank of Russia published a warning against virtual currencies and ICOs. The regulator noted the high risks associated with the use of crypto currencies and said it was premature to allow them along with any financial instruments linked to crypto currencies to the exchanges and regulated markets or the payment structures of the Russian Federation.
