Russian Government Regulates Cryptocurrencies, Crypto Platforms Will Be Operated Again

Russia to regulate crypto (Cryptographybuzz)

JAKARTA – The Russian government plans to integrate cryptocurrency circulation into the country's financial system. The Cabinet also plans to control the flow of crypto in the banking system. Based on the Ministry of Finance's view on this matter, the federal government wants to allow crypto platforms to operate under applicable regulations.

It is aimed at protecting the rights of Russian citizens. The investors will be divided into two categories, namely those who qualify and those who do not. Meanwhile, crypto service providers are required to meet certain capital and liquidity requirements. In addition, they are also tasked with providing information to the government regarding relevant risks.

Reporting from Bitcoin.com News, this regulatory approach runs counter to a proposal submitted last January to impose a complete ban on various operations related to cryptocurrencies, including their issuance, use, trading and mining. The view of the financial authorities with the existing institutions in the country is very contradictory. They are not worried about financial stability.

Russia's financial watchdog, Rosfinmonitoring, the Federal Tax Service, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Federal Security Service and the Prosecutor General's Office also took part in the discussions. The Russian government emphasizes:

“Implementation of the concept will ensure the creation of the necessary regulatory framework, will bring the digital currency industry out of the shadows and create possibilities for legal business activities.”

Based on the results of a meeting organized by the government, the business news portal RBC reported that the Deputy Prime Minister and Chief of Staff, Dmitry Grigorenko, had approved the concept of crypto regulation. He also instructed Finance Minister Anton Siluanov to order his department to prepare a new law together with the Bank of Russia. The draft law designed to implement the plan should be presented by February 18, 2022.

At the heart of the finance ministry's proposal is the requirement to conduct all crypto-related operations through domestic banks. At the same time, the department also wants to allow foreign digital asset exchanges to operate on the Russian market, if they open an office or register an entity in the Russian Federation.

The treasury believes this will allow regulators to identify Russian cryptocurrency users. According to the calculations given in the document, Russian citizens have 12 million crypto wallets, holding 2 trillion rubles in digital coins (27 billion US dollars). Bloomberg reports that Russia has more than 16.5 trillion rubles in cryptocurrency (215 billion US dollars).

In the past year, Russia's interest in the crypto mining map has also increased. The energy-rich country now ranks third in terms of mining capacity, and officials in Moscow want to capitalize on the benefits of the sector by recognizing it as an economic activity and taxing it accordingly. Other media reports have indicated that the government expects to receive a total of $13 billion in taxes from Russia's entire crypto economy.