Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is confident about the new draft law for cryptocurrencies in the country. He spoke publicly about the laws, stating that they are winding their way through the parliament. The regulations will shape the cryptocurrency, tokens and blockchain industry in the country.
He spoke at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum, saying, “We need to consolidate the basic provisions and translate them into the language of the law. Therefore, instead of common slang expressions such as “cryptocurrencies” and “tokens,” lawmakers are developing the stricter legal concepts of “digital money” and “digital rights.”
Bitcoin.com reports that the PM was talking to a plenary session audience. Before this, Sputnik reported that the laws being framed by the Russian parliament will address cryptos and tokens as digital assets. Once regarded as such, they can only be traded for fiat currency or other currencies through ‘special operators’.
However, Medvedev suggested that considering digital coins as assets doesn’t make them valid currencies in the country. He maintained that “the only legal means of payment” will be the ruble. The laws will also not permit the use of these digital coins for retail purchases. While the Russian parliament doesn’t intend to use digital coins as currencies, their treatment will be the same as assets. They are also not against ICOs, the infamous system of fundraising that has raised many eyebrows across the globe.
The Financial Market Committee of Russia has already approved laws governing the sale of digital tokens through initial coin offerings. The documents will be available to the assembly for deliberation on May 22.
Though the country is taking several proactive steps in the management of digital currencies in their country, the prime minister acknowledged that the regulation of the digital realm is ultimately difficult. He said, “Prohibitions in the digital environment do not work because one can immediately find ways to circumvent them…It is quite difficult to enforce a ban.”
Still, the country is taking small but logical steps to maintain as much clarity in the markets as possible. When the new regulations are in place, the definitions of ‘digital signature’, ‘smart contract’ and ‘digital transaction’ will be clarified. In fact, reports suggest that digital signatures will also become as binding as real-world signature contracts.
Laws about the regulation of mining activities as well as the way in which crypto transactions are validated on a blockchain will be formulated by the parliament. In the meanwhile, the federal financial regulator Rosfinmonitoring has ordered all crypto exchanges in the country to verify the IDs of all their customers. Bitcoin ATMs have also been ordered to verify identities of users.
Vladimir Glotov, the Deputy Director, or the regulator said, “We must see the person, look at his transactions and try to understand if they are related to money laundering or tourism financing.”
Local news outlets are reporting that the government is planning to launch a cryptoruble. This state-backed digital currency could be a legal tender and will be issued by the central bank. However, it seems likely that such a currency will not see the light of the day for at least two years.
