Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the country’s government to regulate digital assets by July 2019, according to a document published yesterday on the Kremlin’s website.
The document released on Kremlin.ru sets the deadline for the enforcement of cryptocurrency regulations at July 1, 2019. Through this official order, President Putin requires the Council of the Federation of Russia and the lower house the Federal Assembly of Russia (Russian State Duma) to adopt regulation in its spring session.
In previous statements made by Putin, he ordered the government to introduce legislation applicable to cryptocurrency trading, initial coin offerings, and cryptocurrency mining. Regulators quickly set up bills following Putin’s statement, but these have since been delayed and even sent back to reading stages due to disagreements on technical terms. Regulating something as technical and multi-dimensional as digital assets proves to be a very difficult task.
In this latest document, the President is asking the country’s regulators to implement a regulatory framework for digital assets, under which a digital economy can thrive and civil law settlements can make use of digital assets. It appears that Russia wants to keep tight control over cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology while also allowing it to grow and benefit the country financially.
This move to stricter regulation comes in the wake of previous attempts by the Russian government to regulate the exploding cryptocurrency industry in the country. Russia is one of the leading sources of mining hashpower, blockchain developers, and cryptocurrency investors in the world. The Russian government has even considered creating their own federal cryptocurrency.
Concerns about the transfer of stolen money and the expansion of fraud in conjunction with cryptocurrencies have been raised by many and is often cited as the primary reason for regulations such as these. However, no matter how much regulators may despise cryptocurrencies, they see the potential benefits of the developing technology and are therefore more open to finding common ground.
Other parts of Europe are also busy implementing their own cryptocurrency regulations. European Securities and Markets Authority chair, Steven Maijoor, recently said, “Without new rules, digital assets will likely fall outside of the regulation of Europe’s securities laws. Where crypto assets do not qualify as financial instruments, we are concerned that the absence of applicable financial rules leaves consumers exposed to substantial risks.”
Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/russian-president-putin-orders-government-to-adopt-crypto-regulation-by-july-2019, image from satoshiuncle
