Abstract：Russias recent crypto crackdown has shaken markets and investors and there could be a new twist to the proposed draft regulations.
New crypto legislation may require Russian investors to take and pass a test before being allowed to trade up to certain amounts. The draft law may introduce special exams for “non-qualified investors” who want to buy crypto assets with a total annual value exceeding 600,000 Rubles (around $7,700).
Russian Security and Anti-Corruption Committee Deputy Chair, Andrey Lugovoy, confirmed that the new legislation would tighten up regulations on the asset class according to reports. Lugovoy commented that a complete ban on crypto would be “unconstructive” as it risks the establishment of a black market.
The new legislation also wants to curb individuals taking advantage of cheap energy by making a little profit mining crypto at home or in their garages.
Work in Progress
The Russian crypto bill is still a work in progress and is expected to be put before parliament during the spring session following discussions with relevant ministries and the central bank.
A recently published consultation paper by the Bank of Russia proposed a wide-reaching ban on all crypto-related activities including investing, trading, mining, and issuing. However, this has been met with a lot of backlash from industry leaders and finance and IT executives in Moscow.
President Putin also backs the government‘s efforts to regulate crypto and mining over the central bank’s mission to quash it completely. There are very few central banks around the world that actually approve of crypto as it threatens the absolute control of their respective nations sovereign currency.
Last week, the Bank of Russias head of financial stability, Elizaveta Danilova, said that Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies had “no fundamental value” and looked like a “financial pyramid”.
