Russian Parliament on possible cryptocurrency legislation

The State Duma (Russian parliament) member Anatoly Aksakov has shared some details on possible cryptocurrency legislation in Russia in a TV program on the Russia 24 channel. He told that very soon the work group in the Parliament would be formed, “literally” the next week he would hold a meeting on cryptocurrency regulation with the Central Bank and Finance Ministry representatives and other experts. He added that this work group would discuss the definition of cryptocurrency as a financial instrument and the designation of the regulator of this emerging market.

Russian state officials have always had a dualistic approach to blockchain and cryptocurrencies. At first, according to the investigations made by local media outlets, they deemed these technologies dangerous and planned to ban them altogether. However, it soon became clear to them that the amount of opportunities they will miss is too huge. That’s why state officials including the current President Vladimir Putin started to communicate with the blockchain community and innovators. The organizations close to the Kremlin are already developing blockchain paperwork solutions. However, the cryptocurrency issue remains controversial: the Ministry of Finance official recently told it’s better to restrict access to cryptocurrency assets to all but qualified investors on the Moscow Exchange which provoked angry debates, but the deputy PM said that he doesn’t understand why Russia can’t use its power surplus in the Far East to mine cryptocurrency.