The State Duma, Russia's legislative body, approved on July 24 an experimental legal regime that will allow the use of cryptocurrencies for cross-border payments. As reported by the deputy head of the State Duma's Information Policy Committee, Anton Gorelkin, the legislation was approved together with a draft law which legalizes bitcoin (BTC) mining in Russia.
This is a legislative advance that, in the opinion of the legislator, The new system is the result of “tremendous interdepartmental work, intense debate and the search for common positions.” In this way, as established by the new legal regulations, the entity authorized to implement the new experimental regime with cryptocurrencies will be the Central Bank of Russia. The objective of this regime is to develop, as soon as possible, an alternative payment system, establishing special rules that are beyond the reach of the laws current. This, considering that payments with cryptocurrencies are legally prohibited in Russia. It is thus expected that the new regulations will come into force on September 1. Therefore, it is expected that from that date the monetary body will be in charge of start a plataform that facilitates international payments with cryptoassets. Although it is unknown which cryptocurrencies would be used as part of the new system. This is a plan that He has been managing Russia for about two years now.after the beginning of the armed conflict with Ukraine that generated the imposition of sanctions by the United States and other countries. Such a situation makes it very difficult for Russians to make international payments and sustain their international trade. As BitcoinDynamic has reported, to solve the problems, the Russian government has resorted to the local currencies of the countries with which it trades. Even though, in practice, this modality has generated economic losses due to the exchange issue. As a result, the Central Bank unofficially has given entrepreneurs the green light to turn to options such as cryptocurrenciesparticularly stablecoins. But it asks that it be done «respecting the laws of the country», which is now reaffirmed with the new legal regime approved. A recommendation that shows a relaxation of the position held by the authorities, against cryptoassets. Another solution to the sanctions comes from the BRICS group, a block of 10 countries of which Russia is a part and which promotes the process of global de-dollarization. The group is preparing a new payment system based on central bank digital currencies (CBDC). However, this alternative does not offer a quick solution to Russia, still in the conceptual phase. The other card up the sleeve to solve payment problems is bitcoin mining. Hence the acceleration of the approval of the bill to legalize the activity with a view to taking advantage of resources from miningjust as Iran does.
Russia to create Bitcoin miners registry
The bill that will legalize mining in Russia from September states that Only legal entities and individual entrepreneurs registered and included in a special register may engage in this activity. In this regard, those who do not exceed the energy consumption limits established by the government They will be able to mine digital currency at home, without registering. Additionally, the miners will have to discuss with the Ministry of Energy the setting of electricity ratesThe bill also prohibits advertising or offering cryptocurrencies to an unlimited number of people, giving the government the right to prohibit or limit mining in some regions based on energy consumption. With the approval of these two bills, the Eurasian giant is considered to have taken an important step. A decision that it takes in the context of an emergency, after having been against the ecosystem and strongly reject the use of bitcoinAs Deputy Gorelkin puts it, «this is a momentous moment.»
Without exaggeration, today is a historic day. Two years ago, when we started talking about the need to regulate the cryptocurrency market, the attitude towards it was extremely negative (I remember that the Central Bank even issued recommendations on a complete ban on mining and circulation of cryptocurrency). Anton Gorelkin, State Duma Committee on Information Policy.