From words to deeds

The situation around cryptocurrency legislation in Russia is developing dynamically. At the autumn Blockchain Life forum the consideration of the issue of cryptocurrencies by the state was only announced, today the participants of the event were already discussing possible improvements to the draft law of the Ministry of Finance.

What interesting things were said?

In his speech State Duma Deputy Andrei Lugovoy noted that experts from the working group on the issue of legislative regulation of cryptocurrencies plan to amend the draft law from the Ministry of Finance and submit an updated document in the coming days.

Among the changes discussed were the appointment of the Federal Tax Service as the regulator instead of the Central Bank and special tax incentives for miners.

The expert noted: “By this summer we have every chance to submit a bill to the State Duma. We will move from words to deeds.”

The founder of Blockchain Life and Listing.Help Sergei Khitrov stated there is a need to take into account the position of the crypto community and formulated his proposal to improve the bill.

His main theses:

• Mining regulation (2-4% mining tax)
• Licensing exchange operators or creating governmental ones
• Withdrawal tax 4% and KYC
• Registration of the crypto industry as a type of business activity
• Legalization of payment by cryptocurrency on the territory of the Russian Federation (you can start with legal entities)
• Voluntary declaration

But what is most interesting – the forum participants had the opportunity to hear the answer of the Ministry of Finance.

Ivan Chebeskov, Director of the Financial Policy Department of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, commented on Sergei’s proposal, agreeing with some of the problems he identified.

However, the expert stressed: “Regulation always implies some kind of boundaries but we look at it as relatively liberal, free. The technology itself is not yet established and we would not want regulation to serve as a stupor in its development.”

In addition, Ivan repeated the firm position of the department – it is not yet worth expecting the use of cryptocurrencies as a means of payment within the country, but international settlements with their help are more than real.

Despite some disputes all experts agreed that 2022 will be the beginning of a new stage for the industry in Russia.

The whole discussion can be summed up in the words of one of the speakers – Internet Ombudsman Dmitry Marinichev: “Today, the cryptocurrency industry is incredibly relevant for Russia, because the country has a chance not only to abandon the dollar but also to turn the worldview of people around the world.”