A drafted bill aimed at legalizing cryptocurrency trading in Russia will be submitted for vote to the Federal Legislature in February, Russian Deputy Finance Minister, Alexei Moiseev, told Russian media outlets.
The Russian Finance Ministry “supports the legalization of trade in cryptocurrencies on official exchanges,” Deputy Finance Minister, Alexei Moiseev said.
According to Moiseev, the Finance Ministry “[does] not want to limit and regulate, but we will set some limits.”
The drafted bill aimed at legalizing cryptocurrency trading in Russia is expected to stabilize the crypto landscape in the country, Moiseev believes.
“This is about the fact that buying and selling [of cryptocurrencies] will be somehow standardized. The general idea is that it will be necessary to buy and sell on official exchanges, as it will be declared, it will be legalized,” the Russian official added.
The Bank of Russia confirmed that it was collaborating with the Ministry of Finance on the matter, as reported by RNS. The central bank said it opposes the motion.
The proposed legislation was first presented on December 28. A list of “official exchanges” is currently being put together by the Ministry of Finance. The drafted bill is expected to come to a vote no later than February and is likely to be signed into law by March.
Alexei Moiseev, who spearheads the current moderate bill which “[does] not want to limit and regulate”, took a 180-degree turn after claiming that it was “hard to argue cryptocurrency is not a pyramid scheme”, in August 2017.
Last year, Russian officials planned to only allow “qualified investors” to trade cryptocurrencies. In November, the head of Russia’s Ministry of Communications said the country would “never” legalize cryptocurrency trading.
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin has recently spoken in favor of legalizing cryptocurrency trading in the country.
“If we regulate, but not efficiently enough, then the government will be responsible for the difficult situations that people can get into,” Putin was quoted by RT. “Right now it is the responsibility of the person himself and the government can only say ‘you can do this but you can’t do that,’ and if it’s still not clear then there will be some problems that need to be solved.”
Putin has reportedly ordered officials to speed up the development of the Kremlin-backed CryptoRuble, a cryptocurrency that is expected to help Russia avoid international sanctions and carry out “sensitive activity on behalf of the state”.
Additionally, Russia’s Central Bank has recently launched an initiative to create a common cryptocurrency to be used by BRICS countries and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).
Russia to vote on legalizing cryptocurrency trading – Image: Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev/ bitnovosti.com
[…] are not yet regulated in Russia. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin has recently spoken in favor of legalizing cryptocurrency trading in the […]