It appears that Russia, after all, might soften its stance on cryptocurrency market. As Russian MinFin Plans to legalize cryptocurrency trading, the Central Bank of Russia has a different point of view.
26 January, AtoZForex – The Ministry of Finance of Russia has published the Digital Assets Regulation Bill. The draft outlines and sets out a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, mining and trading, and ICOs, according to the local media reports.
Russian MinFin Plans to Legalize Cryptocurrency Trading, Bank of Russia Disagrees
The Ministry of Finance has stated in their official press release:
“The Ministry of Finance notes that cryptocurrency deals are rather spread in the country, so imposing a ban on it would lead to the creation of conditions for their use in illegal operations such as money laundering, financing terrorism actions and tax evasions.”
However, it appears that the central bank of Russia does not share this point of view with the Ministry of Finance. The Bank of Russia believes that cryptocurrency exchanges should not be legalized in Russia. As per the central bank’s opinion, the cryptocurrency trading rules should only be valid for tokens that would attract financial investments.
Yet, the authors of the bill believe that the legalization of cryptocurrency exchanges would decrease the risks of fraud. They also claim that the legal status of cryptocurrencies in Russia would provide fiscal transparency. This, in turn, would increase tax revenue of the government.
What are the terms of Russsian Cryptocurrency regulation bill?
The authors of the Russian Digital Assets Regulation Bill also believe that a complete can of cryptocurrencies in Russia would cause instances of usage of cryptocurrencies for unlawful purposes.
As per the terms of the proposed bill, cryptocurrency and tokens are seen as a digital financial asset, which is not legal to use for payment purposes in Russia. However, the cryptocurrencies and tokens that are exchanged for other digital currencies and fiat currencies are legal for investors to trade only through authorized cryptocurrency exchanges.
In regards to the ICOs, tokens can be issued by legal entities for the purpose of fundraising. The official Digital Assets Regulation Bill stated that non-professional investors have no right to invest more than 50,000 Russian Rubles in each ICO.
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