Russia changed its mind about blocking cryptocurrencies.

 

    Russia changed its mind about blocking cryptocurrencies.

 Instead, there will be total control, which is worse than a ban.

The Central Bank temporarily changed its mind about blocking bitcoin and other tokens in Russia. Together with the Government, he is developing a bill on the regulation of cryptocurrencies. Along the way, the authorities prepared a concept for the use of virtual money by Russians, equating it to foreign fiat currencies and completely deanonymizing users. In other words, the authorities want to fully control virtual transactions. Mining is not mentioned in the document in principle.

Russian cryptocurrencies were given a chance

The Russian government and the Central Bank have come to a preliminary agreement regarding the fate of cryptocurrencies and everything connected with them in the country. The parties concluded that this area needs regulation and total strict control, and not a ban, although three weeks ago the Central Bank considered it necessary to completely expel the crypt from Russia. This even led to a sharp collapse in the exchange rate of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. 

Read more about this in the CNews article.

Now, the Bank of Russia and the Government will jointly develop a draft law, according to which virtual tokens will be recognized as an analog of conventional fiat currencies, and not digital financial assets. The law on the regulation of the latter has been in force in Russia since January 2021.

The draft law on the regulation of cryptocurrencies in Russia should be ready by February 18, 2022. It is not yet clear whether this will be a separate full-fledged bill or amendments to the current law on digital financial assets, effective from January 1, 2021.

Basic provisions of the concept

The concept approved by the Government does not consider all aspects related to cryptocurrencies. In particular, mining itself is not mentioned in it, and it is not yet clear whether Russians will be allowed to legally mine cryptocurrency while in their country.

The document assumes that the Russians will have to declare any transactions with a cryptocurrency equivalent to more than 600 thousand rubles. Otherwise, such transactions will be considered a criminal offense and even an aggravating circumstance.

According to Kommersant, the concept turns cryptocurrency into an analog of modern foreign fiat currencies. In particular, it is proposed to carry out any operations with it on the territory of Russia through p2p exchangers legalized in Russia or the so-called “organizers of the digital currency exchange system”. 

Banks with a universal license can act in their role.

Cryptocurrency transactions through banks will be accompanied by personal identification, although one of the main differences between virtual tokens and real money is connected precisely with the possibility of completely anonymous transactions. According to RBC, those wishing to use the services of the bank will have to disclose their full name, phone number, passport details, as well as bank account details, and email address. Moreover, digital currency exchange operators will have to “merge” with the organizer of the system all the details about the operations carried out, including the numbers of users’ wallets.

Other expected changes

The authors of the concept also went through crypto-investors who prefer to earn virtual money not by mining, but by investing in them. They are proposed to be divided into qualified and unskilled.

The authors of the concept propose to track all payments in cryptocurrencies using the Transparent Blockchain service to determine the parameters of “normal, suspicious and high-risk transactions”.

Foreign crypto exchanges may also be under the hood. According to the creators of the concept, if they want to work with the crypto assets of Russians, they will need to open their representative office in Russia. Integration with the national digital currency exchange system will also be a prerequisite.

Six regulators will control the cryptocurrency market in Russia at once. Such powers will be given to the Central Bank, the Ministry of Finance, Rosfinmonitoring, the Ministry of Digital Finance, the Prosecutor General's Office, and the Federal Tax Service ( FTS ).

Freedom will be taken away in a few months

As a result, the main idea of ​​the concept of cryptocurrency regulation is the maximum transparency of all transactions. Anonymous transactions will not be held in high esteem.

There is no exact timeline for the introduction of changes to the current legislation. The bill should be ready by February 18, 2022, and then everything will depend on the State Duma and the Federation Council.

RussiansRussians began to be deceived with “crypto as a gift”

 began to be deceived with “crypto as a gift.