Russia’s Finance Ministry Snubs Central Bank and Proposes Crypto Bill
Russia’s Ministry of Finance has formally introduced a bill regulate cryptocurrencies in the country.
According to a press release published on Monday, in defiance of the country’s Central bank (CBR), the bill was put up on February 18 and based on the previously approved roadmap that was drafter by several government bodies.
The CBR is opposed to regulation and would prefer an outright ban on cryptocurrency trading and mining banned. It even suggested to criminalize trading of crypto assets and punish offenders with harsh fines.
In Monday’s statement, the Ministry of Finance noted that CBR’s objections “will be considered in the further work on this bill where they don’t contradict the Ministry of Finance approach.”
The bill proposes crypto as an investment tool, not a legal tender, and does not allow cryptocurrencies to be used to pay for goods and services. There will be strict requirements for cryptocurrency exchanges and over-the-counter desks. Foreign crypto exchanges must operate via legal entities registered in Russia to be able to offer services in the country.
In addition, crypto-to-fiat transactions must be done via bank accounts while know-your-customer (KYC) checks with both banks and cryptocurrency exchanges are mandatory, the press release stressed.
Crypto exchanges will also carry a responsibility to inform and educate consumers about risks involved with investing and trading in cryptocurrencies. The bill outlines that investors are required to pass a certain online test, assessing their knowledge.
Lastly, cryptocurrency exchanges need to keep their own crypto and their users’ funds in separate accounts. All users’ crypto addresses require to be on record.
The mining of cryptocurrency mining will also be regulated under the proposed legislature, however no further details were provided.
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Source: igaming
