Russia’s Ministry of Finance Legalizes Cryptocurrency Trading, Central Bank Disagrees

The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation (Minfin) has presented the Digital Assets Regulation Bill which defines and establishes a regulatory system for cryptocurrencies, ICOs, mining and trading, local media outlet TASS news agency reported today Jan. 25.

Notably, the central bank of Russia disagrees with Ministry of Finance that cryptocurrency exchange should be legally accepted. According to the central bank, the digital currency trading rules should be only applied to tokens that would attract financial investments.

However, the authors of the bill are sure that the legal status of cryptocurrency exchange would reduce the risks of fraud and will provide fiscal transparency, which is expected to increase tax revenue of the government. In contrast, banning cryptocurrency trading would cause a situation when the currency is used for unlawful purposes.

According to the terms of the bill, cryptocurrency and tokens represent a digital financial asset which are not allowed to be used as payment in Russia.

As for cryptocurrencies and tokens exchanged for other cryptocurrencies, Rubles and foreign currencies, Minfin claims to protect the rights of unqualified investors by allowing trading only via authorized cryptocurrency exchange operators.

Concerning ICOs, tokens can be issued by legal entities or sole proprietors for the purpose of fundraising. ICOs must be accompanied with some legal documents disclosing the details of the contract such as issuer’s full name, location, official website and price of a token.

According to the document, non-professional investors are not allowed to invest more than 50,000 Rubles, equivalent to about $900 in each ICO.

In addition, the final version of the bill was earlier reported to be released no later than July 1, 2018, according to Forklog.