Previously, the Russian government intended to outlaw any miners located in the Russian territory but it still remains an unresolved topic whether or not mining could be illegal.
According to the Russian federal law regarding the possession of digital and financial assets (DFA), both government officials and civilians must report their cryptocurrency possessions to the Federal Financial Monitoring Service of the Russian Federation (known as Rosfinmonitoring). The edict was signed by Vladimir Putin, reported the Russian news agency TASS. According to the decree, all officials in Russia must report their crypto assets possessions, starting on January 1st of 2021, with a deadline of June 31. Officials must disclose any relevant information about their digital possessions, including cryptocurrencies and tokenized assets.Likewise, people who are currently applying for government roles are obligated to make their disclosures on their digital assets – whether be owned by the person or familiars like spouses, children, or any relevant.Active players in the mining field, trading, OTC (over-the-counter) brokers, and anyone who transacts with crypto or any digital asset will have to report their transaction history to the Rosfinmonitoring. In case of any official or civilian not declaring about their transactions, it could lead to several fines – and at least three years in jail, depending on the amount reported to the tax agency.Russia to Soften Legal Crypto RegulationsBy September, the Russian finance minister was seeking to severely regulate the use of digital assets, especially cryptocurrencies, by imposing tougher measures on these types of assets – like limiting the purchase of crypto to an amount of 600,000 rubles ($7,400) and reporting yearly the balance of their wallets, if the transaction history exceeded 100,000 rubles ($1,300).Several crypto enthusiastic groups opposed this bill, appealing to soften the proposed regulations. The measures were softened on November 30, when the Russian Ministry of Finance eased several measures introduced in the drafts – the amount required to report their transactions was extended to 600,000 rubles ($7,800).Previously, the Russian government intended to outlaw any miners located in the Russian territory with a bill passed in the Parliament. This hasn’t been discussed by politicians and regulators, and still remains an unresolved topic whether or not mining could be illegal.Likewise, the first bills regarding cryptocurrency usage in Russia aimed to punish any transaction related to cryptocurrencies and other digital assets – meaning that crypto-users could have faced at least eight years of imprisonment just by using BTC as a financial instrument.It was in 2018 when the Russian government decided to give cryptocurrencies and digital assets a legal status and industry legislation, set in different decrees. Even so, while the regulatory measures presented in these drafts gave relief to the crypto space in Russia, it’s still illegal to use Bitcoin, Ethereum, or any type of crypto as a payment method.According to recent drafts, only major local firms can issue stablecoins – digital coins designed to reduce price volatility. These coins can be pledged to a cryptocurrency’s network, like the DAI stablecoin backed by Ethereum.next
