Bank of Russia, Finance Ministry Agree on Crypto Mining Regulation, Law Expected Soon – Mining Bitcoin News

Major gov­ern­ment insti­tu­tions in Moscow, the cen­tral bank and the finance min­istry, have aligned their posi­tions on the reg­u­la­tion of cryp­tocur­ren­cy min­ing in the Russ­ian Fed­er­a­tion. The respec­tive bill will soon be filed with the State Duma, a high-rank­ing mem­ber of the house unveiled.

Financial Authorities Reach Consensus on How to Regulate Mining of Digital Coins in Russia

The Cen­tral Bank of Rus­sia (CBR) and the Min­istry of Finance (Min­fin) have adopt­ed a joint posi­tion on the reg­u­la­tion of cryp­to min­ing. The bit­coin-relat­ed activ­i­ty has been expand­ing in the ener­gy-rich nation, both as a prof­itable indus­try and as a source of addi­tion­al income for many Russians.

Ana­toly Aksakov, chair of the par­lia­men­tary Finan­cial Mar­ket Com­mit­tee, announced dur­ing the Kazan Dig­i­tal Week forum that draft leg­is­la­tion intro­duc­ing rules for the sec­tor will soon be sub­mit­ted to the low­er house of Russ­ian par­lia­ment, the State Duma. Quot­ed by RBC Cryp­to, he said:

In the near future, the bill will appear in the State Duma, we will work to pass it faster.

The Russ­ian law­mak­er also gave his own take on the mat­ter. Aksakov believes that cryp­tocur­ren­cy min­ing should be allowed only in regions with abun­dant ener­gy resources and pro­hib­it­ed in those that expe­ri­ence shortages.

Ear­li­er in Sep­tem­ber, Prime Min­is­ter Mikhail Mishus­tin asked the CBR, Min­fin, Ros­fin­mon­i­tor­ing, Russia’s finan­cial watch­dog, the Fed­er­al Tax Ser­vice, and the Fed­er­al Secu­ri­ty Ser­vice to elab­o­rate a com­mon posi­tion on draft fed­er­al laws reg­u­lat­ing the issuance and cir­cu­la­tion of dig­i­tal cur­ren­cies, includ­ing their min­ing and use in inter­na­tion­al settlements.

The head of the Russ­ian gov­ern­ment also ordered the Min­istry of Finance, with the par­tic­i­pa­tion of the Bank of Rus­sia, to sub­mit con­sen­sus pro­pos­als for the devel­op­ment of the mar­ket for dig­i­tal finan­cial assets (DFAs), includ­ing the appli­ca­tion of decen­tral­ized tech­nolo­gies, by Dec. 1.

The two reg­u­la­tors will have to update the Strat­e­gy for the Devel­op­ment of the Russ­ian Finan­cial Mar­ket Until 2030. The doc­u­ment should be revised tak­ing into account Pres­i­dent Vladimir Putin’s instruc­tions and the cur­rent geopo­lit­i­cal sit­u­a­tion, Mishus­tin stat­ed on Sept. 13. He also empha­sized that under the cur­rent con­di­tions, the employ­ment of DFAs will con­tribute to ensur­ing unin­ter­rupt­ed pay­ments for imports and exports.

Russ­ian author­i­ties have been dis­cussing the reg­u­la­tion of cryp­tocur­ren­cies and relat­ed activ­i­ties for quite some time, with the CBR and Min­fin tak­ing almost oppo­site posi­tions until recent­ly. While the cen­tral bank pro­posed a blan­ket ban, the depart­ment has favored legal­iza­tion. How­ev­er, the two reg­u­la­tors recent­ly agreed that Rus­sia would need cross-bor­der cryp­to pay­ments to deal with the pres­sure exert­ed by West­ern restric­tions on its for­eign trade.

The major­i­ty of offi­cials in Moscow also share the view that the Russ­ian Fed­er­a­tion should exploit its com­pet­i­tive advan­tages in the field of cryp­to min­ing, which were high­light­ed by the Russ­ian pres­i­dent, too. Many regions in the vast coun­try offer both low-cost ener­gy and cool cli­mate. At the same time, Russ­ian cryp­to min­ers have also been hit by sanc­tions imposed over Moscow’s inva­sion of Ukraine.

Do you think Rus­sia will legal­ize oth­er cryp­to-relat­ed activ­i­ties besides min­ing? Let us know in the com­ments sec­tion below. 

Lubomir Tassev 

Lubomir Tas­sev is a jour­nal­ist from tech-savvy East­ern Europe who likes Hitchens’s quote: “Being a writer is what I am, rather than what I do.” Besides cryp­to, blockchain and fin­tech, inter­na­tion­al pol­i­tics and eco­nom­ics are two oth­er sources of inspiration.

Image Cred­its: Shut­ter­stock, Pix­abay, Wiki Commons