Russia proposes laws seeking to ban crypto. Russian lawmakers have proposed new laws that seek to ban the usage of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Draft bills were submitted by a group of deputies to The Russian parliament received draft bills submitted by a group of deputies recently. The bills states that individuals may face up to seven years in prison and fines of up to $7,000 for using BTC in financial transactions. Users will also face penalisation for buying crypto with cash or transferring to accounts opened with Russian banks.
According to the bill, companies that issue or operate virtual currencies without approval from the Russian central bank will be punished. They face up to two million rubles or about $28,000 in fines for that. Additionally, companies would have to pay 1 million rubles and individuals 200,000 rubles if they are caught using cryptocurrency for the payments of goods and services.
The proposed law also plans to completely stop digital assets from being used as a means of payment by citizens or corporations. People that already hold digital assets will be forced to register them with Russia’s tax agency and explain how it was acquired.
Penalties may be compounded for both individuals and firms “if major or especially large damage was caused to citizens, organizations or the state, or if these actions led to enrichment on a large or especially large scale.”
Dmitry Kirillov, a senior tax lawyer at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner and a teacher at Moscow Digital School, expressed, “People who currently own cryptocurrencies will be forced to get rid of them before the law comes into force or risk ‘going underground.’ Goals that will be achieved this way are the direct opposite of what’s being declared. In general, the idea of dropping a crypto ‘Iron Curtain,’ in my opinion, does not contribute to the development of businesses or Russia’s interaction with the world economy on a digital level.”
Local lawyers are concerned that the proposed law may paralyse the crypto industry.
