According to a fintech specialist in the Russian State Duma, Russia may be the first nation in the world to permit cross-border cryptocurrency transfers while outlawing domestic cryptocurrency payments.
On Tuesday, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin gave the cabinet the official order to reach an agreement on crypto legislation in Russia by December 19, 2022.
The Duma and other state agencies were expressly urged by the prime minister to develop unified measures to control the issuance and use of digital currencies in Russia. Mishustin also requested that regulators complete the rules governing cryptocurrency mining and international exchanges of digital currencies.
The official emphasized that Rosfinmonitoring, the Federal Tax Service, the Federal Security Service, the Russian Finance Ministry, the central bank, and the impending draft crypto rules should all be in agreement.
The most recent information provides yet another official affirmation that Russia has been taking the potential use of cryptocurrency for international commerce seriously.
The Bank of Russia and the finance ministry have decided to legalize cryptocurrencies for use in cross-border payments, according to Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev’s report from last week. The Russian central bank is still opposed to the legality of local cryptocurrency exchanges and the use of cryptocurrencies as a form of payment, despite its willingness to permit international transactions.
There are allegedly many concerns about the viability of outlawing domestic cryptocurrency exchanges while allowing cross-border transfers, especially as Russia has not yet developed a framework for such legislation.
According to Maria Agranovskaya, a legal advisor and fintech specialist in the Russian State Duma, Russia may be the first nation in the world to permit cross-border cryptocurrency transfers while outlawing domestic cryptocurrency payments. To my knowledge, this isn’t a typical strategy, she remarked.
Agranovskaya pointed out that it is still unclear how exactly Russia intends to distinguish between domestic and international crypto payments. This distinction doesn’t exist yet. That’s all for now; all “foreign” crypto is considered to be digital cash, she said.
“It is absolutely unclear at the moment. I presume the matter shall be in line with the currency control regulations — tax residents in the local territory would not be allowed to use crypto for payments internally.”
Despite passing its key cryptocurrency-related law, On Digital Financial Assets, in 2020, Russia has emerged as one of the most unclear jurisdictions when it comes to cryptocurrencies. Despite not outlawing them, mining and trading in cryptocurrencies were nonetheless permitted in Russia under the law. Russian financial officials only permit cryptocurrency trades through overseas cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance and have not licensed any domestic cryptocurrency trading platforms.
