Russian lawmakers are expected to present the bill on the regulation of cryptocurrencieson December 28, 2017, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets Anatoly Aksakov told a press conference today, TASS reported.
The bill defines cryptocurrency as “an alternative form of property”.
“There is no mention of a particular cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin (EXANTE: Bitcoin) or Ethereum (ETH/USD),” Mr Aksakov said.
Mr Aksakov forecasts that the final version of the document will be ready in March 2018.
The steps taken by the Duma are in response to orders issued by Russia’s president Vladimir Putin in October 2017. Back then, Putin said the Government and the Central Bank have until July 1, 2018 to make sure that certain changes are introduced to the Russian legislation.
These changes should determine the status of digital technologies used in the financial segment and should cover the associated concepts, including: distributed ledger technologies, cryptocurrency, token and smart-contracts.
The changes should reflect the fact that the Russian ruble will remain the single legal payment means in the Russian Federation.
The legislative changes should cover mining and the way this activity should be taxed. The registration and regulation of the entities executing such activities should also be specified in the legislative changes.
Russian Minister of Communications and Mass Media Nikolai Nikiforov said earlier he believes that Russia is unlikely to legalize Bitcoin.