Russian President Vladimir Putin has signaled that the cryptocurrency regulations in his country should become effective by 1 July this year, according to the official government publication. Putin has set the date of the release of the regulatory package, now called the Digital Assets Regulation, which first appeared last year. Its introduction will end years of uncertainty in which cryptocurrencies - along with corporate and private investors - are in the shadow economy, and local authorities in Russia make various, contradictory moves to decide which aspects are legal and which are not. Last week, the court in St. Petersburg overturned the bill passed in July 2017, which suddenly prohibited the distribution of educational materials related to Bitcoin. "The operation of the cryptocurrency market is associated with specific threats, which is why nationwide regulation of this area is indispensable"- said the chairman of the parliamentary finance committee, Anatoly Aksakov, during a discussion at the end of February.
At the same time, the legislators in Moscow are currently preparing legislation on financing ICO. Some key details still cause friction between the central bank and the government ministers. The Bank of Russia especially wants to criminalize ICO symbolic investments, while the Ministry of Finance wants only regulation. "The Central Bank applied against the legalization of digital currencies because citizens could then actively invest in instruments without knowing well the possible threats" - comments Aksakov.
