Russia’s cryptocurrency position has been under question for years now, but with the latest reports the ambiguity seems to be reaching a decisive moment. The Bank of Russian and the Russian government have, reportedly, reached an agreement on crypto regulations. The biggest news to come out of this is the decision of the authorities to recognize BTC as a foreign currency and not a digital asset.
Vladimir Putin has commented that the central bank and the government will be working together to reach a consensus.
The news publisher Kommersant has suggested that a draft law will be presented for inspection on 18th February. Speculators think that crypto assets will be available only via the banking system or licensed exchanges, or other overseen intermediaries.
All transaction over 600 000 rubles, or around $8000, will have to be declared, while any transactions made without the awareness of the law will be treaded as criminal offences.
It was though by news outlets around that Russia would impose a full ban on crypto transactions. However, this prospect was met with a public outcry, and many experts and authorities opposed the idea. Fitch, a credit rating agency, issued a warning that a ban on cryptos would harm the Russian economy by blocking a huge source of revenue for banks.
Currently, there are over 12 million crypto wallets in Russia that are worth some 2 trillion rubles, estimates the Russian Ministry of Finance. Blomberg reported that Russian are currently in possession of around 16 trillion rubles worth of cryptocurrencies. Another news outlet, Bell suggests that the Russian government collects $13 billion from crypto taxing.
Source
This is surprisingly good news, considering that their previous plans were to ban cryptos.
Vladimir Putin has commented that the central bank and the government will be working together to reach a consensus.
The news publisher Kommersant has suggested that a draft law will be presented for inspection on 18th February. Speculators think that crypto assets will be available only via the banking system or licensed exchanges, or other overseen intermediaries.
All transaction over 600 000 rubles, or around $8000, will have to be declared, while any transactions made without the awareness of the law will be treaded as criminal offences.
It was though by news outlets around that Russia would impose a full ban on crypto transactions. However, this prospect was met with a public outcry, and many experts and authorities opposed the idea. Fitch, a credit rating agency, issued a warning that a ban on cryptos would harm the Russian economy by blocking a huge source of revenue for banks.
Currently, there are over 12 million crypto wallets in Russia that are worth some 2 trillion rubles, estimates the Russian Ministry of Finance. Blomberg reported that Russian are currently in possession of around 16 trillion rubles worth of cryptocurrencies. Another news outlet, Bell suggests that the Russian government collects $13 billion from crypto taxing.
Source
This is surprisingly good news, considering that their previous plans were to ban cryptos.
