Russia to legalize cryptocurrency – official

Cryptocurrency will become legal tender subject to strict controls in Russia as the use of digital assets is growing rapidly, the head of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets Anatoly Aksakov said on Saturday.

Cryptocurrency traders “want to be legalized” as they are “ready to work in a legal space because... [foreign] banks are sometimes afraid to interact with Russian banks and conduct settlements with Russia,” he said.

According to Aksakov, digital currencies could be used in foreign trade transactions and it is necessary to control their “movement” to avoid “irregularities.”

The use of digital currencies is limited in Russia due to restrictive legislation including President Vladimir Putin’s 2020 law on digital financial assets, which legalized cryptocurrencies but banned their use for goods and services.

However, Russia’s Finance Ministry has recently pointed to the benefits that digital currencies can offer, such as no correspondent accounts, instant transactions, and practically no compliance procedures, which should be taken into account in foreign trade.

This year, Russia became the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency mining country, according to Bitriver, the nation’s largest bitcoin miner.

There are still no uniform international laws that regulate cryptocurrencies, which are notorious for their high volatility. The most popular crypto, Bitcoin, was worth a fraction of a cent when it was launched in 2009 and shot up to nearly $69,000 per coin in November 2021. The price of Bitcoin is currently above $30,000.

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