As the Bank of Russia have confirmed they do not wish to ban crypto but instead have agreed on having more regulations in place. This road to getting more regulated has been jotted down on a “roadmap”, which they will use to improve the current regulations.
As per the roadmap, they have noted down the intention to require Russian investors to prove the adequacy by taking a test to prove their ability to trade cryptocurrencies.
This will be especially true for “unqualified investors”.
Andrey Lugovoi, one of the authors who are involved in drafting the new law and the administration’s top official, said that the digital asset regulations bill will be submitted to the State Duma in the Spring session. In addition to the draft’s aim to regulate trading and mining, it will also incorporate mandatory testing requirements.
According to the report, amounts exceeding 600,000 rubles a year, will be checked for “unqualified investors” through the test by the authorities. It is noteworthy to acknowledge that Lugovoi explained that testing will only be mandatory for making transactions with digital currency, but not with other crypto assets including tokens.
This current draft law plus the consultation paper that Russia recently released which mentioned the intentions to impose a blanket ban on crypto-activities, including trading and mining may be a U-turn for Russia. Lugovoi, who is also the deputy of the State Duma working group on the regulation of digital assets, noted that it will be a unanimous bill. It will be finalized with the participation of all members of the specialized working group of the State Duma and other parliamentarians.
Photo by Sam Oxyak
