Miners from 15 Countries to Give Input for Russian Cryptocurrency Bill

Cryptocurrency miners from 15 countries have confirmed that they will be showing Russian parliamentarians how cryptocurrencies are mined and discussing their countries’ specific approaches to mining regulation. After the meeting, the Russian government plans to draw up recommendations and proposals for crypto legislation, which will be submitted on December 28.

Also read: South Korea Clarifies Position After Reports of Possible Ban on All Crypto Transactions

Russia Hosting Meeting of Miners

The Russian government is hosting a global meeting of cryptocurrency miners early this week, according to the deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee for Education and Science, Boris Chernyshov.

At a press conference last week, he said miners from 15 countries will tell parliamentarians how cryptocurrencies are mined and how they are regulated in each country, Ria Novosti reported. He told the publication:

The event will be attended by representatives of both the Russian side and foreign countries…The main theme is the discussion of the world of cryptocurrency.

He added that the process of cryptocurrency turnover and the regulatory approaches of how to regulate them in each country will be discussed.

At the meeting, “we will have some experimental samples of mining farms, maybe we will show them, some might bring them in. We will have a robotic system, that is, we will try to look into the future of the currency, the future of banking,” he detailed, adding that:

Fifteen countries have confirmed participation. Representatives from the United States, from India, from Israel, from Armenia, from Turkey are speaking here. They are keynote speakers…Other representatives will speak during the sessions.

Based on the results of this meeting, the Russian regulators plan to “draw up recommendations, appeals to the government of the Russian Federation and other specialized agencies, and form legislative initiatives,” the news outlet noted.

Russia Expects to Submit Crypto Bill This Month

The bill for the regulation of cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICOs) in Russia will be presented on December 28, according to the chairman of the State Duma Financial Markets Committee, Anatoly Aksakov.

At a different press conference on Thursday, Tass quoted him saying, “Today we will have a meeting in a small circle, where we will highlight the key points before the presentation of the draft law. Cryptocurrency is defined as other property.”

This bill was developed jointly by the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank, and State Duma deputies, Vedomosti described. The chairman noted that this bill does not mention bitcoin, ether, or the country’s national cryptocurrency initiative, the cryptoruble.

Without specifying how the bill proposes to tax cryptocurrency transactions, he was quoted saying:

I state my point of view, this property [cryptocurrency] is a financial instrument, a financial asset. Accordingly, its circulation should not be levied with value-added tax.

Citing that the bill will also regulate ICOs, Aksakov revealed that there will be restrictions on the annual investment amount per investor per project. His announcement concurs with the bill’s details, unveiled by the finance ministry earlier this month as reported by news.Bitcoin.com. However, he emphasized, “Approaches will be the most liberal, but at the same time, investors’ protection is envisaged, certain rules of this market are envisaged.”

President Vladimir Putin mandated in October for cryptocurrency regulation to be implemented by July of next year. Once the bill is submitted, an expert discussion of the document will begin and “in March, I think, there will be acceptance,” the chairman said.

What do you think of Russia hosting a meeting of miners? What kind of crypto regulation do you think Russia will come up with? Let us know in the comments section below.

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