The Russian central bank continues to take a very unfavourable stance toward cryptocurrencies and has suggested that local miners be prohibited from selling coins to locals.
A draught bill that was unveiled in mid-November 2022 included support from the Bank of Russia for the idea of legalising cryptocurrency mining in the country.
According to the Bank of Russia’s press office, “We believe that cryptocurrency obtained as a result of mining can be sold exclusively using foreign infrastructure and only to non-residents.”
We continue to hold the position that digital currency cannot be circulated on Russian Federation territory in general.
As many foreign cryptocurrency exchanges have prohibited Russians from using their platforms in compliance with sanctions over Russia’s war in Ukraine, the new proposal is likely to raise a lot of questions among Russian miners. The Bank of Russia has long advocated for limiting resident trading to foreign trading platforms.
The Bank of Russia has proposed that miners who wish to sell self-mined cryptocurrency within Russia do so through a “authorised organisation.”
The announcement follows the Russian Ministry of Finance’s rejection of the Bank of Russia’s proposal to impose strict licencing requirements on cryptocurrency mining operations there.
On December 6, Alexey Moiseev, the deputy finance minister, allegedly stated that a new strategy had been developed by the Russian central bank to restrict mining to “authorised organisations.” The official claimed that such a measure would effectively result in “total licencing” of cryptocurrency mining. According to reports, Moiseev said, “We are against it.”
However, the Russian central bank wants to restrict cryptocurrency sales by miners to foreign exchanges and non-Russian citizens, according to a Dec. 7 report from the regional news outlet Interfax.
As previously reported, on November 17 the lower house of the Russian parliament received a draught bill on cryptocurrency mining. A prohibition on the sale of cryptocurrency that has been mined to Russian citizens was not included in the bill’s original draught. The bill also prohibits miners from selling their coins anywhere other than on foreign exchanges or through the state-backed platform that is being developed as part of the cryptocurrency legal framework’s test phase.