Bitcoin is not welcome in Russia. The Central Bank of Russia, this year, put in place legislation that bans the issuance and circulation of cryptocurrencies.
But officials in the country accept that an outright ban is unenforceable. Speaking on the country’s Digital Assets Bill, Alexey Guznov, the Director of the Bank of Russia’s Legal Department said:
“Nobody is going to ban owning cryptocurrencies… [people will not be punished for owning crypto] if they made their deal in a jurisdiction that does not prohibit that.”
Russian lawmakers hold firm that the rouble should be the only legal means to transact in the country.
Russia Revises Legislation to Criminalize Non-Disclosure of Bitcoin Activity
Things took a turn for the worse yesterday as Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that authorities are looking to ramp up restrictions on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Russia’s Ministry of Finance has issued proposals to revise legislation regarding the circulation of cryptocurrency. This relates primarily to the duty of users to declare their cryptocurrency activity, including details on all wallets held.
Ministers are meeting this week to discuss the proposals. If ratified, changes to the Criminal Code, Criminal Procedure Code, Administrative Code, Tax Code, and money laundering legislation will be put in place.
More specifically, lawmakers want to know if citizens have received more than 100,000 roubles ($1.3k) of cryptocurrency in a calendar year. If so, relevant persons must inform the tax office by declaring it