Regulation
Russia set to legalize international cryptocurrency transfers and mining with new laws to challenge US
- Russia passes law to streamline cryptocurrency transactions and use it for international payments amid sanctions.
- The new laws include measures to legalize cryptocurrency mining and the use of cryptocurrencies in foreign trade, supervised by the Bank of Russia.
- This regulatory change aims to strengthen Russia’s global stature in cryptocurrency mining and ensure compliance with domestic security and financial regulations.
Russia has taken another step toward regulating and using cryptocurrencies as it continues to battle international sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine. report According to Bloomberg, the State Duma just passed a series of bills on cryptocurrencies last Tuesday.
Related: Report: Russia considers use of cryptocurrencies amid challenges with international money transfers
The new laws would make it easier to send and receive cryptocurrencies to and from Russia. The bill, considered experimental, could be quickly approved by senators in the Federation Council. President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is then expected to sign the law and put it into effect by September 1, according to Anatoly Aksakov, head of the Duma’s financial markets committee, cited by Bloomberg.
Russia embraces cryptocurrency after earlier reluctance
Aksakov explained that the use of cryptocurrencies, which could help Russia evade Western sanctions, is an inevitable phenomenon that regulators cannot ignore, despite previous hesitations.
Previously, there were concerns that the legalization of cryptocurrencies could create problems for the development of the domestic market.
Russia has gradually opened up to the idea of using cryptocurrencies for cross-border payments, after being rather hostile to the asset class in the past.
Ria Novosti reports The bill allows cross-border settlements and exchanges of digital currencies under experimental legal regimes (EPRs).
The Bank of Russia will regulate these activities and monitor risks, including those related to national security and financial crimes. The law also allows the use of cryptocurrencies in foreign trade payments and allows the Bank of Russia to create an electronic platform for cryptocurrency transactions.
Bill to legalize mining challenges US position
The initiative is actually a set of two billsThe first deals with the crypto mining sector while the second concerns international transfers.
Russia has the second largest cryptocurrency mining capacity in the world and intends to expand it to surpass the United States, said the bill’s co-author, deputy chairman of the Committee on Information Policy, Information Technologies and Communications Anton Gorelkin.
Today, Russia ranks second in terms of mining, and I am sure that after the appearance of regulation in this area, we will come out on top, overtaking the United States.
The bill now allows ordinary citizens to engage in mining, but it still provides for a ban on advertising mining activities. According to Gorelkin, this measure is “due to the increase in fraud involving individuals.”
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