Russia is pushing ahead with regulating the cryptocurrency market, with the State Duma reportedly considering a bill to combat fraud in the industry.
The bill will look at “combating the illegal use of cryptocurrencies in our country,” Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, reportedly said.
Lawmakers will vote on the bill in its second and third readings this week, according to Russia’s Tass news agency, and will also work to provide “an opportunity for those who use cryptocurrencies for international transactions to do so within the legal framework.”
Using crypto has been illegal in Russia as a form of payment since 2022, but lawmakers in the country have been open about using them for international settlements.
President Vladimir Putin has also talked about digital asset mining in the past, admitting back in 2022 that the country had “certain competitive advantages” in the sector thanks to its surplus of energy and cold climate.
Last year, the president signed a law allowing cryptocurrency mining in the country, allowing legal entities to mine if they have been approved by the digital ministry. Foreign operations are currently prohibited from doing business in the country.
Back in 2023, the Russian legislature passed a bill legalizing the use of digital currency as a way to make international payments. The bill is likely to have helped the country evade international sanctions: The US and European governments sanctioned Russia when it annexed Crimea in 2014, and Western nations have stepped up penalties since it invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Top Russian banks plan to launch crypto trading services as new regulations take hold in the country. Lawmakers have said investors will have to pass a test to start crypto investing and will be limited by the amount they can buy.
Pro-Bitcoin Putin?
Russia has long had a complex history of regulating cryptocurrencies, but Putin has praised Bitcoin in the past.
Speaking at a forum in Moscow in December 2024, Russia’s leader spoke about the dominance of the dollar and other payment methods as he highlighted the emergence of new technologies that could help people move money.
“For example Bitcoin, who can ban it? Nobody,” he said at the time. “And who can ban the use of other electronic payment instruments? No one, because these are new technologies.”