Russian gov’t, central bank to regulate cryptocurrencies

The government and central bank of Russia are now working on a draft law that will treat cryptocurrency as an “analogue of currencies” rather than digital financial assets. Cryptocurrencies would function in the legal industry only if they have complete identification through the banking system or licensed intermediaries. These changes will launch on February 18.

Bitcoin transactions and possession of cryptocurrency in the Russian Federation must be done through a digital currency exchange organizer (a bank) or a peer-to-peer exchange licensed in the country. Russia’s regulation will seek to integrate a mechanism for the circulation of digital currencies into the country’s financial system while ensuring control over credit institutions’ cash flows.

Transactions of more than 600,000 rubles or around USD 8,000PHP 469,484INR 677,998EUR 7,618CNY 58,226 must be declared otherwise, it could be considered a criminal act. Those who illegally accept cryptocurrencies as payment will incur fines.

This is a development for Russia compared to January wherein the Bank of Russia called for a nationwide crypto ban and said that financial firms should not facilitate crypto transactions.

Additional reports also emerged the President Vladimir Putin supports efforts to regulate the country’s crypto mining sector.

Source: Cointelegraph