Crypto industry is legally recognized in Russia

The State Duma has approved a bill on digital assets after a long dialogue with the crypto community represented by the IDEO Association and market leaders.

This law comes into force on January 1, 2021. 

The document is based on the legal possibility of creating digital financial assets and their legal circulation in Russia.

This activity is regulated as follows: 

• Digital financial assets can be issued providing a number of information including: information about the person issuing the digital asset, information about the operator of the information system, the type of rights certified by the digital asset, and others.
  
• The exchange operator can be credit organizations, trade organizers and other legal entities that meet the requirements of the Central Bank. 

The law mentions cryptocurrencies, giving their definition and a possible field for using them: cryptocurrencies are recognized as property, and special organizations licensed by the Russia’s Central Bank will be able to issue and exchange digital currencies. Cryptocurrencies can not be used to buy or sell anything in Russia so they are not compete with fiat currencies.

Digital currencies, including bitcoin, will be regulated by the separate bill. Its text is expected to be approved by September.