Russian lawmakers are working on amendments to launch a national cryptocurrency exchange. The effort is said to be supported by both the Ministry of Finance and the Russian Central Bank, which have a long history of squabbling over the regulation of cryptocurrencies in the country.
As reported by local media on November 23, members of the lower chamber of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, held discussions on amendments to the country’s current crypto legislation “on digital financial assets” with market stakeholders. The amendments, which will establish a legal framework for a national trading platform, will be submitted to the central bank first.
Sergei Altohov, a member of the State Duma’s Economic Policy Committee, highlighted the financial sensitivity of such measures: “It makes no sense to deny the existence of digital currencies, the problem is that they are spreading in a large stream outside state regulation. These are billions of tax rubles of lost tax revenue to the federal budget.”
In June, the head of the State Duma Financial Market Committee, Anatoly Aksakov, suggested the possibility of launching a national cryptocurrency trading platform in Russia as part of the Moscow Stock Exchange, “a respected organization with a long tradition.” In September, the Moscow Exchange drafted a bill on behalf of the central bank to allow trading in digital financial assets.
Earlier this month, a bill was introduced that would legalize digital currency mining and sell the mined digital currency to Douma. The bill would create a Russian platform for crypto sales, but local miners would also be able to use foreign platforms. In the latter case, Russian currency controls and regulations will not apply to transactions, but they must be reported to the Russian Tax Service.
