Russia’s Federation Council to Set Up Working Group on Crypto Regulations

The Federation Council of the Russian legislature is forming a working group expected to propose comprehensive regulations for cryptocurrencies. Officials from several ministries and government agencies, as well as members of the country’s expanding crypto industry, will join the body.

Federation Council to Prepare New Regulations for Cryptocurrencies in Russia

The Federation Council, the upper house of Russian parliament, is establishing a working group of experts to take on the task of developing additional regulations for Russia’s growing crypto space. Cryptocurrencies are now only partially regulated through the law “On Digital Financial Assets,” and officials have recognized the need to adopt more rules to cover various aspects such as circulation and taxation.

Besides lawmakers, the group will comprise representatives of the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Economic Development, Russia’s financial watchdog, Rosfinmonitoring, the Ministry of Digital Development, the Federal Tax Service, Bank of Russia, and law enforcement agencies. Quoted by Forklog, the Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Nikolai Zhuravlev announced at the Finopolis 2021 forum that members of the cryptocurrency industry will also be invited.

During his participation at the event devoted to innovative financial technologies, Zhuravlev remarked that the use of cryptocurrency as a means of payment is prohibited in Russia. But then he also commented that whether other operations with digital coins should be banned is a difficult and debatable question.

According to an earlier statement by the First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council’s Committee on Budget and Financial Markets Elena Perminova, the house is currently analyzing the presence of cryptocurrencies in the Russian financial market. Perminova said last month that the chamber intends to “seriously address this issue.”

In late November, the lower house of Russia’s Federal Assembly, the State Duma, revealed it’s also forming a working group of lawmakers who will try to answer outstanding questions pertaining to the regulation of decentralized digital currencies in the Russian Federation.

The group will hold its first meetings in the near future, the head of the parliamentary Financial Market Committee Anatoly Aksakov announced at the time. Its members will attempt to clarify crypto-related matters such as the legalization of mining and the introduction of taxation for crypto holdings and profits.