“Because this crypto mining is a sort of business activity, it is obviously required to register it,” Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on Financial Markets.
Local authorities have been more serious about regulating the cryptocurrency business as Russian cryptocurrency enthusiasts attempt to attract worldwide crypto mining operators.
According to TASS news agency, Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, Russian lawmakers are reportedly considering recognizing the crypto mining industry as a type of entrepreneurship under local company legislation.
“Because this [crypto mining] is a sort of business activity, it is obviously required to register it, regulate it as a type of entrepreneurship under an appropriate legislation, and impose proper taxation,” Aksakov added.
He stated that the government is working on many legal efforts linked to the crypto industry and that bills for crypto taxation, mining, and digital currency issuance are expected to be introduced in the near future. In addition, Aksakov emphasized the need for additional regulatory certainty for digital currencies, saying:
“We still need to discuss what digital currency actually is, although we call it currency, it is rather used as a financial instrument, or a financial asset that is a subject to investment, rather than a means of payment.”
“Practical ramifications for the industry will be confined to business registration and tax requirements, of course, with a certain degree of official recognition as a genuine firm,” says Nikita Soshnikov, a former senior lawyer at Deloitte CIS and director of Alfacash.
In January 2021, as part of the law “On Digital Financial Assets,” Russia created a fundamental legislative framework for regulating cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), forbidding the use of crypto as a payment method.
While the law technically legalized cryptocurrency investment, it did not give clear laws for many specific parts of the business, such as taxation, mining, and requirements for owning and reporting crypto holdings, among other things.
In February, the Russian State Duma adopted a separate measure on cryptocurrency taxation in its first reading, requiring people to record cryptocurrency transactions totalling more than $7,800 per year.
The Russian Federation’s Council of Judges issued an official statement in August regarding Russian judges’ rights to possess crypto.
Citing local court norms, the organization particularly recommended local judges to avoid holding cryptocurrencies, as they are considered a sort of foreign financial instrument.
