Aksakov signals readiness of draft bill to regulate Russia’s bitcoin market

The draft law regulating the cryptocurrency market in Russia is already in its draft form. This was announced by Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the State Duma committee on the financial market, at a round table hosted by RBC Ufa.

According to him, the document is based on the concept proposed by the Ministry of Finance, taking into account the requirements of market participants.

“I have on my desk a draft law implementing provisions that originate from the market,” said Aksakov.

The draft includes provisions addressing not only the activities of cryptocurrency exchange operators and the information system for handling assets, but also regulating mining. Aksakov noted that during the drafting some provisions of the Finance Ministry’s concept were dropped, but he did not specify which.

“The document is still rough, so I am not ready to publish it. A small circle of specialists working in this market and who want it to be transparent, civilized, with participant identification, income declaration and taxation, are involved in the work on this document,” he said.

Aksakov added that in the near future they would obtain a sufficiently consolidated document. They plan to finish it by 18 February, as as previously reported. The official did not rule out that after the first reading the bill would undergo significant changes, in the manner of the law “On Digital Financial Assets.”

“I set a deadline—the first half of 2022—for adopting the relevant legislative decisions. I believe that is how it will be,” summed up Anatoly Aksakov.

Earlier this year the Russian government approved the concept of legislative regulation of cryptocurrency circulation. Experts fear that implementing the current provisions of the concept could threaten a full loss of anonymity and risks related to tying the infrastructure to banks.

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