Putin orders Russia’s parliament to enact crypto regulations by July

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Despite a government minister arguing that cryptocurrency like Bitcoin doesn’t need to be regulated since it isn’t a valid form of payment, Russia’s president has issued an order that the country’s parliament introduce regulations by this July. The announcement of the order came through the Kremlin.ru website, the official website for the President of Russia, on Wednesday.

President Vladimir Putin expects the government to introduce crypto-related regulations that would cover Bitcoin Core (BTC) and other digital assets no later than July 1. He has tasked the Council of the Federation of Russia, as well as the Duma, to adopt the framework during the upcoming spring session of legislative activity. 

The order will require the introduction of federal legislation designed to push forward a digital economy and should include guidance for civil-law digital settlements. Any legislative action should also provide guidance for a regulatory framework for digital financial assets and should be drafted in a way that will attract more financial resources to the digital technology industry. 

Putin has been pushing for crypto regulations for the past couple of years. In 2018, he ordered the country’s parliament to establish regulations for crypto trading and initial coin offerings, which were to be in place by that July. Lawmakers introduced the regulations as instructed, but the language was later changed to cover “digital rights” and stripped references to crypto. From there, the measure failed. 

As reported earlier this week, Russia is in the process of developing a digital asset backed by oil. For that to happen, the necessary regulations for the industry will need to be in place. That crypto offering is designed to help the country avoid unpredictable currency exchange fluctuations and is expected to help the country overcome trade restrictions. 

There have also been reports this year that Russia is considering a complete transition from its dependency on the U.S. dollar to digital currencies. This is supposedly in response to U.S. sanctions levied against the country, but those reports have been refuted by high-ranking officials in Russia’s Parliament. 

Russia’s Duma, the lower house of the Federal Assembly of the country, has already announced that it would be reviewing crypto regulations next month. Putin has apparently created a sense of urgency surrounding the need to introduce legislation, but the end goal of his plan is not yet completely clear. It’s unlikely that he simply wants to see crypto succeed in the country.