Russian lawmakers have announced that long-awaited crypto legislation will be presented to the State Duma for debate in April.
Despite the optimism expressed by the Chairman of the State Duma’s committee on the financial markets, Anatoly Aksakov, critics have raised concerns about the proposed bill.
It will reportedly seek to punish illegal crypto exchanges and brokers with jail time, an approach that has been likened to draconian measures taken in the Soviet era to stamp out black market foreign currency trading.
Former deputy head of the Central Bank, Sergei Shvetsov, spoke out against the proposed bill, stating that criminal liability charges for crypto offenses should not be applied. In contrast, Aksakov believes that ruble- and commodity-backed coins have a future in the digital space and claims that such coins will launch later this year and in 2024.
It is unclear at this time whether the bill will include regulations for crypto mining, or whether mining will be addressed separately.
