Aksakov Backs Identification of Cryptocurrency Owners

The head of the State Duma committee on the financial market, Anatoly Aksakov, compared cryptocurrencies to a financial pyramid and called for market regulation. This was reported by Duma TV.

According to Aksakov, cryptocurrency investors “may lose everything,” as digital currencies are not backed by anything and their price is volatile.

“Therefore it is important to regulate the market, to protect, above all, our citizens, establish taxation, and define rights for cryptocurrency holders. At the same time they must be identified,” the official said.

Earlier, advocated mandatory identification of owners of digital assets by the head of the Investigative Committee of Russia, Alexander Bastrykin.

Aksakov noted that cryptocurrencies should be declared, and stressed the importance of enacting a law on taxation of their operations.

He also stated that there is a need to legally clearly define the mining of crypto assets.

“If we allow mining, then it should be entered into the OKVED, define that this is a business that is included in the Federal Tax Service register, and determine taxation, set tariffs for the electricity that this business consumes in accordance with cross-subsidization,” he said.

Earlier, in support of mandatory identification of digital asset owners, advocated by Alexander Bastrykin, the head of the Investigative Committee of Russia.

In December, the official said that Russian authorities are considering various options for regulating cryptocurrencies — from a full ban on ownership and purchase to the legalisation of Bitcoin exchanges.

He also said that residents of the Russian Federation invested in the cryptocurrency market 5 trillion rubles. He did not specify the data on which this figure is based.

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