In a letter to the Russian Finance Minister, the Head of the Russian Chamber of Commerce called for cryptocurrency mining to be recognized as business and for cryptocurrencies to be studied as a “digital expression of value.”
The Russian Chamber of Commerce has recommended to the government that it should legalize cryptocurrency mining and recognize it as a business. Russian media reported that the head of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sergey Katyrin, sent a letter to Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, asking him to remove it from a “gray area”.
Katyrin said that it was necessary to change the current views on cryptocurrencies, to get it out of that gray area, to enforce taxes and other mandatory payments. This will also allow “to reduce the tension regarding the illegal use of electricity”, reveals the letter.
He emphasized the sovereignty of the ruble and that the value of cryptocurrencies as an asset would have to be studied, stating that:
“It is practical to study the experience of countries where cryptocurrency is a digital expression of value and not a means of payment, while the exchange of cryptocurrencies for goods is treated as a barter transaction.”
Russia has not been as active as other countries in proposing rules for the crypto market. India, in contrast, has placed a 30% tax on cryptocurrencies, while China has banned the asset class entirely.
Russia has had a somewhat ambivalent stance on the crypto asset class. It does not, and it will never consider Bitcoin legal tender, according to country officials. The Russian central bank suggested banning cryptocurrencies, although this received strong public backlash.
However, recent events have been more positive. On Jan. 28, Russian authorities, made up of the finance, economy, digital and interior ministries, collectively agreed to create a roadmap for cryptocurrency regulation, according to the FSB security service.
President Vladimir Putin has called on lawmakers to come to a consensus on the matter, after all these conflicting reports. About 7% of the Russian population owns cryptocurrencies, according to Finery Markets, so regulation may become a priority as adoption grows.
By Audy Castaneda
