Aksakov: Russia’s mining fate and bitcoin exchanges require debate

Russia must carefully discuss the future development of mining and the possibilities for exchanging cryptocurrencies in order to make a well-considered decision. This was stated by the head of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, Anatoly Aksakov, at the RBK conference.

According to him, there are “hundreds of thousands of activists” working in mining in Russia, but for now they pay electricity at reduced tariffs.

“Power-generation companies would gladly sell electricity to this kind of business. [Because of this] it is in regions with surplus electricity that power-generation companies could earn money. The tariffs should be for business,” he noted.

The official added that an additional upside of legalising mining could be tax receipts to the budget from this activity. According to various estimates, the figure could reach several billions of rubles.

“I am not saying that mining should stay, but there are some advantages to legalising it,” he noted.

Crypto exchanges also require regulation. Among the options the authorities are considering are either a complete ban on this business or the introduction of strict restrictions, including capital requirements, the technical capabilities of platforms and staff, certification, and the maintenance of registries.

Anatoly Aksakov reminded that the Bank of Russia’s prohibitive recommendations are linked to the fact that cryptocurrencies are not backed by anything.

“If all of this collapses, many Russian citizens will suffer. I think this is exactly what the central bank has in mind by proposing such restrictions,” he added.

Last week the Bank of Russia proposed to ban the circulation and mining of cryptocurrencies in Russia. The discussion of the initiative will continue until March 2022. In parallel with this within six months the government will develop additional regulation of the industry taking into account the regulator’s listed risks.

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