Ministry of Economic Development Criticizes Overly Strict Cryptocurrency Bill

The Russian Ministry of Economic Development has sent a letter to the State Duma criticizing the latest version of the draft law on digital financial assets, as well as the draft law on digital currencies. The newspaper “Kommersant” reviewed a copy of the document.

The ministry believes that the bill is aimed at a complete ban on the issuance and circulation of cryptocurrencies in Russia. They also noted that the draft law proposes to criminalize activities related to the issuance of such currencies.

According to the Ministry of Economic Development, passing the bill would result in losses for the country’s economy, as cryptocurrency operations would be pushed outside of Russia. The ministry argues that it is necessary to create mechanisms for the “controlled circulation of cryptocurrencies.” For example, they suggest establishing requirements for their issuance and circulation, for operators involved in these processes, and implementing government oversight. The ministry proposes that regulation should be the responsibility of the government together with the Bank of Russia.

Expert Opinions on the Bill

Alexander Zhuravlev, chairman of the commission on legal support for the digital economy at the Moscow branch of the Russian Lawyers Association, believes that passing the bill in its current form could lead to the creation of an uncontrolled black market. According to him, even with a legal ban on crypto assets, users would still be able to bypass restrictions using technical means such as VPNs. Therefore, a prohibitive approach would not solve the issue of citizen safety.

Dmitry Zakharov, CEO of Moscow Digital School, noted that if the bills are adopted as currently proposed, Russia would face significant missed opportunities: loss of tax revenue, loss of the ability to utilize mining equipment, and most importantly, the loss of innovators—entrepreneurs, programmers, and lawyers working in this field. The expert emphasized that Russia has already missed out by not providing a comfortable legal environment when it was needed, and now “we want to ban everything altogether.”