Russian Ministry of Finance submits bill on cryptocurrencies

The Russian Ministry of Finance announced Monday that it has submitted a draft bill on cryptocurrencies regulation to the government. The move came despite Russia’s central bank’s unaddressed concerns over the asset class.

The Bank of Russia and Russia’s finance ministry are still disputed over their contrasting views on the burgeoning industry. While the central bank wants a complete ban on cryptocurrency usage and mining, the finance ministry wants to regulate cryptocurrency by introducing a legislative framework.

In January, Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a consensus between the two authorities and asked for a report after holding discussions on the matter. Unable to find an agreement, the central bank proposed yet again a ban on cryptocurrencies in a bill proposed Friday.

“The bill establishes a ban on the organization of the issuance, issue, organization of the circulation of private digital currency on the territory of the Russian Federation,” the explanatory note read.

Meanwhile, the finance ministry’s newly proposed bill would allow citizens to hold cryptocurrencies purely as an investment vehicle. While cryptocurrency mining is not restricted, holders cannot utilize crypto assets as a means of payment. It did not mention much about cryptocurrency mining and basically defined it as an “activity aimed at obtaining cryptocurrency.”

The bill has also laid down some intriguing laws to regulate the crypto market. Specifically, the bill has called for mandatory KYC registration for users and compulsory registration of crypto-related companies with the government. Interestingly, the bill has also introduced an online test for users before allowing them to trade crypto assets.

The test will measure the knowledge level of cryptocurrency traders. Test takers who pass the exam can trade up to 600,000 rubles ($7,700) annually whereas those who fail are limited to transactions up to 50,000 rubles ($650).

“In addition, for the safety of clients’ funds for crypto-exchanges, a nominal account mode is introduced, on which the funds of bidders will be located. Exchanges and exchangers will be required to maintain registers indicating the addresses – identifiers of each holder of digital currencies,” the announcement summarizing the bill noted.

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