During the last couple of years, Russia’s attitude towards digital currencies has been slightly contradictory, given numerous statements, moves to reportedly make mining cheaper, but also debates on stricter regulation.
Not long ago, President Vladimir Putin instructed both the Central Bank and the government to begin drafting legislative regulation for digital currencies, mining and initial coin offerings, by the month of July 2018. Now, recent reports indicate that the Russian Ministry of Finance has been hard at work during the last few weeks, and has prepared a legislative draft meant for the regulation of digital currencies.
In a statement made during an interview with the Rossiya 24 TV channel, the Finance Minister, Anton Siluanov, mentioned that "The Ministry of Finance has prepared a draft law, currently under consideration, which will determine the procedure for issuing, taxing, buying and circulation of cryptocurrency."
It is interesting to point out the fact that the legislative draft also refers to the circulation of digital currencies, which is an interesting approach that has not been taken by other countries so far. No further statements were made in this regards, therefore it is not yet known if, and how this will affect general cryptocurrency users in Russia. There are however reports mentioning that profits made from digital currency use, will be taxed according to the pending legislation, which is a move that a few other countries have made as well.
So far, it seems like the legislative framework draft meant for cryptocurrency mining and initial coin offerings isn’t ready yet. It is believed that miners will have to register with an authority within the country, whereas companies holding ICOs will have to adhere by certain regulations, meant to avoid money laundering, and scams, while also increasing transparency towards the investing public.
Based on everything that has been outlined so far, it is believed that the legislative draft will not have a big impact on general users, yet companies handling cryptocurrencies may have to adjust their practices.
