Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev told reporters that bitcoin trade on authorized exchanges should be legalized. This was reported on Thursday by RNS.
The bill on the legalization of trade is already in development. It is promised to be submitted in March 2018.
The point is that bitcoin trade will be standardized – explains Moiseyev.
Also referred to the list of “permitted sites”. Exchanges that do not fall into the approved list are likely to be blocked by Roskomnadzor. Little is known about the bill itself, but one can already speculate on how this will affect Russian traders and miners.
What does it mean
It is important to understand that:
- “The beginning of drafting a bill” does not guarantee its adoption. When lawyers prepare the text of the law, it will be submitted for consideration in the State Duma. Only if the majority of deputies vote for legalization of trade bitcoin, and the president will sign it, it will come into force. The signature of the president of the Russian Federation is usually a formality, because Putin seldom rejects the bills passed by the State Duma (in the last five years this happened once).
- This does not mean full legalization of bitcoins. If the law is adopted, Russia will not all the same rank with Japan. The legalization of trade does not turn bitcoin into a recognized currency. This means only the intervention of the state in one of the “zones” of the crypto industry. Trade bitcoin in Russia is possible today. Officially this is not prohibited.
- This news for the Russian crypto industry is rather bad than good. The introduction of a list of allowed exchanges for trading will mean limiting the rest. It’s not clear yet whether the popular crypto – bins will enter the white list – LocalBitcoins , Bittrex, Binance , or preference will be given to those whose servers are located on the territory of the Russian Federation.
- The list of approved trading platforms is covered in secrecy. Moiseyev does not give any comments, he says that the issue is being decided.
The reaction to the government’s crypto currency is expected. In 2017, the issue of blocking and crypto-currency was discussed several times by officials at conferences. Moiseyev is not the only one who can influence the status of bitcoin. This is also the central bank.
The fact that Moiseyev initiated the drafting of the bill on legalization does not mean that the crypto-currencies will be exactly legalized. Any of the deputies can submit their bill for consideration, including a ban. While the law will not be considered by the State Duma, it is difficult to make forecasts.
Other variants of the development of events
The Deputy Minister of Finance is not the only one who wants to consolidate bitcoin in the legislation. In addition to him, in the legalization of trade bitcoin see the need for Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov and head of the board of the Center for Strategic Research Alexei Kudrin.
Against the trade are the Central Bank, the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The attitude of the president to the crypto – currency is neutral, closer to positive. Bitcoin can still be banned / taxed / limited / recognized as a means of payment.