A bill to regulate cryptocurrencies in the Russian Federation has received several amendments. What do they mean for investors?
The Federal Security Service, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and several other government agencies have filed feedback on a draft law on the regulation of cryptocurrencies, which was drafted by the Russian Ministry of Finance. The government agencies want to force cryptocurrency firms to share their data, including the possibility of seizing digital assets from their customers. We tell you more about the situation.
Note that the interaction between RF officials and cryptocurrencies had undergone a major change the day before. We are talking about the blocking of accounts of the exchange Binance relatives of Russian officials. According to Bloomberg, the platform has blocked several accounts over the past two months – including the daughters of Sergey Lavrov and Dmitry Peskov. This action is necessary for the exchanges to comply with the new sanctions.
What will be the regulation of cryptocurrencies in Russia?
The Ministry of Finance supported the FSB’s proposal to oblige crypto-service providers to share information not only with the courts, but also with criminal investigators. It also agreed with the need to clarify the set of requirements for the storage of transaction data in digital assets.
This is a logical requirement on the part of the FSB - the agency wants maximum control over the activities of crypto firms and the flow of funds in Bitcoin. However, the latter does not even require any legislation: the Bitcoin blockchain and many other cryptocurrencies are public, so anyone can track the information in it.
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov
Another comment came from the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD). They hinted at the lack of procedural details in the draft law on seizure and storage of digital assets. The Federal Tax Service (FTS) has also made a proposal for stricter requirements for unlicensed exchanges and wallets – advertising of such services should become illegal, Cointelegraph reported. These recommendations were also accepted by the Ministry of Finance.
What the ministry did not accept was the FSB’s proposal to require all mined cryptocurrencies to be transferred to licensed exchanges and to apply anti-money-laundering legislation to mining. This was seen as “overly detailed and stringent regulation”, not appropriate at this stage, as it could discourage cryptocurrency users and investors. But the idea of the Federal Tax Service to ban banks from conducting cryptocurrency transactions with unlicensed entities deserves further discussion, the ministry commented.
Central Bank of Russia
According to Anatoly Aksakov, head of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, the final version of the law on cryptocurrencies is expected to be introduced to parliament in May. Judging by the pace of adoption, the government is in no particular hurry to approve cryptocurrencies at the state level. This suggests that digital assets are unlikely to be used on a large scale to circumvent sanctions from the West.
It should be noted that the situation with cryptocurrencies in the Russian Federation now looks very strange. In the face of serious sanctions imposed and being imposed, the same bankers have suddenly started thinking that their attitude to the digital asset niche is too rigid - although just a few months ago they supported blocking the circulation of coins in the country.
Another change came to light mid-week. In particular, according to Kommersant, the Central Bank has proposed that exchanges be allowed to trade in digital financial assets. They believe that investors will be attracted by this possibility, while crypto exchanges will allegedly stop being of interest to users, which once again confirms bankers' lack of understanding of what is happening in the coin niche.
Bank of Russia
Acceptance of Bitcoin and altcoins has been far more successful in other countries. For example, Swedish startup Bitrefill has announced the opening of its Pay Bill service for residents in the US. Pay Bill itself allows customers to pay various bills in cryptocurrencies. In addition to Bitcoin, the list of available digital assets for payment includes Etherium, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Dash and Tether stabelcoin.
The service works to pay credit card bills, utilities, car loans, healthcare, mortgages and social security along with integration through T-Mobile, American Express, State Farm, Wells Fargo, United Healthcare and Liberty Mutual. Bitrefill said the Pay Bill service will also allow users to pay for property and other taxes and even funeral services in cryptocurrencies.
Pay Bill from Bitrefill
Naturally, only US dollars will reach the recipient, as Bitrefill is simply in the business of quickly and conveniently converting digital assets to pay bills, notes Decrypt. However, this is already a huge step towards the millions of US consumers who actively use crypto almost every day.
We believe that so far, the position of the Russian authorities on cryptocurrencies seems too ambiguous to predict any positive outcome. Yet a few months ago, Central Bank officials were seriously proposing a ban on cryptocurrency transactions, and today they are also proposing to trade digital financial assets on exchanges. So everything will depend on further sanctions and the economic background in the country.
What do you think about this? Share your opinion in our millionaires’ cryptochat. There we will discuss other important developments related to the blockchain world.
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