Russia presents Crypto Bill to Parliament making testing process mandatory before investing

The Ministry of Finance in Russia is moving forward with its proposal to regulate crypto in the country and has submitted a bill in parliament to that effect. The bill was introduced on February 18 and is based on a previously agreed roadmap established by numerous government bodies, including significant law-enforcement agencies, according to a press release issued on Monday.

The bill treats crypto as an investment tool, not a legal tender. It proposes the formation of a special register of operators to define the requirements for exchanges that carry out operations related to the organization of the circulation of digital assets.

These requirements are mainly related to corporate governance, information storage, risk management system, reporting, internal control and audit, and the amount of own funds. Foreign crypto exchanges will also have to register to obtain a license to continue their operations in Russia.

Russia focuses on crypto education and risk awareness before investing

Russia has decided to only allow purchase and sale options to those citizens who would be identified by using KYC. The deposit and withdrawal of crypto from the operator to client and vice-versa would only be allowed via banks using a bank account. 

In addition, the exchanges are required to inform Russian investors about the high underlying risks associated with the investment of digital currencies under the new law. Moreover, it would be mandatory for citizens to undergo an online testing procedure before the purchase of crypto assets, which will help the government to determine the level of knowledge about investing specifics and awareness about the associated risks.

The bill has been proposed amid Central Bank’s constant pressure on an outright crypto ban. However, as TheCoinRise reported, the country recently said that both the bodies have agreed to regulate cryptocurrencies and classify them as an “analogue to currencies.”

The government has planned to define mining as an “activity aimed at obtaining cryptocurrency.” The regulated crypto mining will be supervised by a dedicated government agency.

Before this, there had been a proposal to legalize crypto mining in specific locations of Russia, which have a sustainable surplus in electricity generation.