Russian authorities delay decision on cryptocurrency regulation until year end

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Although the president had ordered the development, review and approval of new cryptocurrency regulations by early July, Russian authorities ultimately decided to postpone making a decision. The bill that would regulate the cryptocurrency industry was postponed to a later date, leaving the cryptocurrency space shrouded in uncertainty.
At this time, it is unclear why the bill was delayed. Some speculate that it may be because the chamber is not unanimous on the status of digital currencies in Russia. For a while, it looked like the country would accept this new form of finance, but regulatory delays confirmed their hesitation. Now, those who want to participate in cryptocurrency trading hope that the authorities will finally make a final decision before the end of the year.
Naturally, members of the country’s cryptocurrency community were not happy about this turn of events. Instead of cryptocurrencies being regulated and moving towards acceptance, those who wish to purchase cryptocurrencies are now left waiting to learn about the consequences of working with cryptocurrencies.
According to Anatoly Aksakov, the chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, the bill will be reviewed again this fall. However, legislators are still quite uncertain about how to deal with cryptocurrencies, especially those in the lower house. Aksakov himself said that the law of the central federal body must decide whether to ban cryptocurrencies as a trading instrument. If yes, no trading point or stock exchange will be allowed to work with cryptocurrencies.
He added that cryptocurrencies must be correctly defined and that the legislature has only two options - either support cryptocurrency trading in Russia or ban it. But if they choose to ban it, according to Aksakov, Russian citizens will still be allowed to trade cryptocurrencies on foreign exchanges.
Russia still undecided
This is not the first time that the Digital Financial Assets Act, a bill that aims to regulate cryptocurrencies, has been delayed. The first delay was in May this year due to FATF’s requirements on virtual currency regulation.
In June, Russian Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev hinted that the bill might pass in the second reading. However, the authorities appear to have no such intentions, and the decision, like anything involving virtual currencies, has been delayed.
Even the country’s president, Vladimir Putin, gave lawmakers until July 1, 2018, to come up with regulations. When that date came, nothing happened. Putin then gave a second deadline — July 1, 2019. But again, nothing happened, although regulators at least seemed closer to meeting Putin’s deadline this time around.
There seems to be a big change in the stance towards cryptocurrencies in Russia. The Kremlin seems to be skeptical of digital currencies, and although the authorities have tried to embrace new technologies, the skepticism remains quite strong.
Meanwhile, the Russian Central Bank reportedly plans to launch a gold-backed cryptocurrency. Then, Governor Elvira Nabiullina said that digital currencies will never replace traditional currencies. Then Facebook's Libra came along, and Russian authorities announced that they will treat it like any other coin, meaning it will not be legalized. But they don't plan to ban it either, as the country believes that Libra is not a threat to the ruble. Join our Telegram channel to stay up to date with the latest news coverage