UPDATE: Fin Ministry improves, submits to govt cryptocurrency bill

(Adds expert comments in last 2 paragraphs)

MOSCOW, Apr 8 (PRIME) -- Russia’s Finance Ministry has submitted to the government a bill on digital currencies that implies comprehensive regulation of the cryptocurrency market, the ministry’s press service said on Friday in a statement.

“The bill stipulates creation of overall regulation of the cryptocurrency market, including the order of committing transactions with digital currencies and their issuance as well as definition of specific features of activities of subjects of the cryptocurrency market,” the statement read.

The document specifies some points, including digital mining.

Online exchange J2TX head Artyom Moiseyev told PRIME that the initiative of legalization was supported by President Vladimir Putin after a meeting with businessmen in February. The goal is to draw from the gray legal zone both investors in crypto assets and miners, he said.

“The government admitted that this industry has become so large that it cannot be ignored – as of the end of 2021, we were on the second-third place in the world by the volume of mining. At that, the financial industry wants a faster introduction of blockchain technologies, including to skirt sanctions and attract foreign capital to the country. National infrastructure should be created to achieve it – specialized bourses, brokers, depositaries,” Moiseyev said.

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