Work on the bill on digital financial assets has been completed, said Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the Duma Committee on the Financial Market. He noted that the document defines the concept of cryptocurrencies and regulates the ban on their use as means of payment. According to Aksakov, the experts decided to define these instruments, but to prohibit their use as traditional financial assets. The law will also determine the order of issue and circulation of digital assets that are secured by the goods.

Anatoly Aksakov, Head of the Duma Committee on the Financial Market
Anatoly Aksakov. Photo: Valery Sharifulin / TASS
Aksakov also added that the adoption of the document would be delayed because of the coronavirus. Most likely, until the end of spring it will not be considered. The world's deadliest virus slows down all legislative processes. The focus has been shifted to priority pandemic operations.

Also the head of the Duma committee on the financial market noted that mining in the bill is not registered. Digital mining is a type of business that produces value, so it should be taxed. Aksakov said that the new law on the CFA will prescribe the rules for combating money laundering, attracted by criminal methods.

The deputy also suggested that over time a cryptocurrency ruble would be issued, the circulation of which would be tied up on blockchain technologies. This currency will be controlled and regulated by the Central Bank of Russia - this is a prerequisite for its existence.

The new law, according to Aksakov, will not interfere with the functioning of cryptocurrency exchanges, if they do not violate the legal norms. In doing so, their activities will be subject to regulation.

For the first time, the bill on digital financial assets was submitted to the State Duma for consideration in spring 2018. The term of its adoption was postponed several times. First, Putin instructed the Cabinet of Ministers and the State Duma to start regulating the cryptocurrency market by July 1, 2019. After that, Medvedev decided to pass the law by November 1, 2019.

Aksakov explained that all the transfers were due to irreconcilable differences in the government, which were related to the new kind of digital assets. The Central Bank refused to legalize them, and the State Duma believed that it was necessary to formally authorize certain instruments for the circulation of digital assets in the Russian market.

Aksakov first announced the readiness of the bill in September 2019. In January 2020, he promised that he would be admitted to the spring session with a high probability. On March 24, a bill was introduced in the State Duma aimed at creating regulatory sandboxes for testing cryptocurrencies, blockchain and their use in various industries. Thus, everything is gradually moving, but how much longer it will take to recognize cryptocurrencies in the Russian Federation at the legislative level is impossible to predict.