According to a Dec. 23 report by local news outlet Tass, Russia’s cryptocurrency mining bill, which would legalize crypto mining and the sale of mined crypto, could be adopted by January.
On November 17, 2022, the bill was introduced in the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament. At the time, Anatoly Aksakov, Chairman of the State Duma’s Financial Market Committee, predicted that the law would pass all three parliamentary readings in December.
As per Aksakov, the bill’s passage was postponed because of concerns that it may open the door for a capital flight out of Russia.
“…according to the critics of the bill, it could create channels for capital flight from our country. Ostensibly, it will be the activity of buying cryptocurrency, but in fact, the main objective will be capital flight from our country.“
Aksakov acknowledged that the risks of capital flight are real, and he will work with the opponents to change the legislation.
If the crypto mining bill in Russia is approved, Russians would be able to mine cryptocurrencies lawfully. The measure would also enable Russian miners to sell the cryptocurrency they have mined on international marketplaces.
The proposal would also permit Russian miners to trade cryptocurrency they have produced within the nation under an “experimental legal regime,” according to a Nov. 18 article from Interfax. Cryptocurrency payments were made illegal in the country in July.
It should be mentioned that the Russian Federation’s Central Bank stated earlier this month that it theoretically supports the law. Interfax reported on December 7 that the monetary authority is opposed to enabling Russians to sell cryptocurrency they have produced domestically. The central bank believes that miners should only be allowed to sell their crypto to non-residents and on international markets.
With the postponement, Aksakov is optimistic that the mining measure may be updated to adequately address critics’ concerns and will be ready for passage in January 2023. However, he warned that if an agreement with the critics is not reached by next month, the bill’s passage could be delayed much further.
Russia developed a draft framework in September to allow the use of cryptocurrencies in cross-border transactions. According to TASS, the Russian central bank wants to test the use of cryptocurrency to settle foreign transactions within the regulatory sandbox environment on December 19.
