Russia announced its plan for dealing with bitcoins yesterday: They will be fully regulated by the government. There is to be no more anonymity. The operations will be transparent and able to be tracked. Aside from other concerns, the matter of the financing of terrorism has been an abiding concern. Otherwise, any bitcoin exchange that is registered in a tax haven will not be allowed to do business in Russia.
Informed observers are wondering if this move portends further Russian measures to clamp down on international speculative capital, given the environment of international sanctions and financial warfare being directed at the country. The following is a translation of the government’s announcement.
“The government has determined the future of digital currencies in Russia. The turnover of such financial assets will be regulated by the state with strict obligations for all participants in the professional market and an emphasis on protecting the rights of ordinary investors.
“The purpose of the regulation is to integrate the mechanism for the circulation of digital currencies into the financial system and ensure control over cash flows in the circuit of credit institutions. Protection of the rights of citizens, in addition to dividing investors into qualified and unqualified, will be ensured through licensing requirements for cryptocurrency platforms. Those, in turn, will be required to have financial airbags in terms of liquidity and capital adequacy. In addition, it is planned to introduce an obligation for market participants to inform citizens about the increased risks associated with digital currencies. The implementation of the concept will ensure the creation of the necessary regulatory framework, will bring the digital currency industry out of the shadows and create the possibility of legal business activities.”
The Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Russia, Rosfinmonitoring, the Federal Security Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Federal Tax Service, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Prosecutor General’s Office took part in the discussion of the regulation of the cryptocurrency market. http://government.ru/news/44519/
