New Russian draft law on cryptocurrencies allows coin trading after identification

The official website of the Russian Finance Ministry (or FinMin) has published a new draft law on the market of cryptocurrency and ICOs, called “On Digital Financial Assets”. It allows non-qualified investors to acquire and withdraw cryptocurrency funds on certain conditions.

Traders are allowed to open wallets on providers which are founded in compliance with the Russian laws on securities trade or other legal framework on organized trades (Acts No. 39-FZ and 325-FZ, respectively). This regulation variation strikingly resembles the measure recently imposed in South Korea: traders and exchanges exist, but traders have to identify themselves, and exchanges, too, have to cooperate with state financial law enforcement agencies.

The message following the release of this draft law tells that the FinMin still has disagreement with the Central Bank over the status of exchange of cryptocurrencies for Russian rubles, foreign currencies or other property. The Central Bank believes that such deals must be allowed only in connection with ICO tokens. In response, the FinMin states that the crypto trade prohibition would lead to a wide range of illegal platforms helping to launder money, which is absolutely undesirable.

When it comes to ICOs, Russian officials believe that the acquisition of tokens for non-qualified investors should not be fully prohibited as well, with the total sum of acquisition not overpassing 50,000 Russian rubles. ICO organizers must report about their enterprise to the government and have a detailed public offer in which they must remind about the rule of 50,000 rubles among many other things concerning the issuer, transactions, token price, rights of customers and project information.