Russia Publishes New Crypto Law to Regulate Digital Assets

Highlights:

• Russia has passed a law to regulate digital currency turnover and mining activities.
• The legislation allows banning mining in specific areas and regulating supporting infrastructure.
• Various federal agencies can now track digital currency transactions for potential illicit activities.

According to Russian news agency TASS, the Russian government has passed a new law to regulate digital currency turnover. The law signed by President Vladimir Putin aims to control Bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining activities. 

The legislation will take effect on November 1. It allows the Russian government to ban digital currency mining in specific regions and details the conditions for implementing these bans. Additionally, the government can regulate infrastructure providers that support mining operations. 

The Russian government issued a law signed by Putin on October 27, aiming to expand state control over the cryptocurrency sector, including strengthening supervision of cryptocurrency mining activities, giving the government the power to stop mining pool operations, and some…

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) October 27, 2024

Expanded Federal Access to Digital Currency Addresses and Mining Regulation

The legislation also allows various federal agencies, beyond the Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring), to access digital currency identification addresses. This expansion encompasses various federal administrative and law enforcement agencies. It enhances their ability to track transactions that may be linked to money laundering or terrorist financing activities. 

Additionally, the amendments shift the national mining registry responsibility from the Ministry of Digital Development to the Federal Tax Service. The Federal Tax Service will now oversee the registration of mining enterprises and remove those that repeatedly violate regulations.

Russia’s Legalization of Crypto Mining Enables Large-Scale Operations with Conditions

This latest development follows Russia’s legalization of crypto mining earlier this year. Only registered Russian legal entities and individual entrepreneurs will be allowed to conduct large-scale crypto-mining operations. However, individuals can mine digital currency without registration as long as they do not exceed the energy consumption limits established by the Russian government.

🚨BREAKING🚨

🇷🇺 PRESIDENT PUTIN SIGNS LAW
LEGALIZING BITCOIN AND CRYPTO
MINING IN RUSSIA.

THIS IS GIGA BULLISH 🔥 pic.twitter.com/OrtCSiMAQ4

— Ash Crypto (@Ashcryptoreal) August 8, 2024

Russia Advances Crypto Regulations and Cross-Border Payment Solutions

The Russian government is working to take advantage of the digital asset economy. Recently, it has made progress in creating regulations for crypto mining and testing cross-border crypto transactions and trading. In late August, Moscow began testing cryptocurrency for international payments under the regulation of the Bank of Russia to reduce the impact of sanctions. 

Moreover, Vladimir Putin announced at the BRICS Business Forum in Moscow that the bloc will continue discussing the use of digital currencies in investment developments. He stated that Russia and other BRICS nations are developing a SWIFT-like financial messaging system. They are also exploring the use of national digital currencies to fund high-growth investment projects. 

JUST IN: BRICS to use digital currencies for investment developments. pic.twitter.com/i7u7JFsC55

— BRICS News (@BRICSinfo) October 18, 2024

Additionally, the BRICS bloc plans to launch BRICS Pay, a blockchain-based payment platform to simplify cross-border transactions among member countries. Group members aim to lessen their dependence on the US dollar. Digital currencies can assist in reaching this goal while also supporting developing economies and member nations.

He noted that more than 30 countries are interested in cooperating with BRICS. The upcoming summit in Kazan will discuss potential new members. Putin emphasized that BRICS will drive most global economic growth in the coming years, highlighting the bloc’s size and rapidly growing economies compared to Western nations.