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A
simmering dispute over cryptocurrency regulation in Russia
heated up on Friday as the finance ministry submitted
legislative proposals to the government that clashed with the
central bank's demand for a blanket ban.
The Bank of Russia has proposed banning cryptocurrency trading
and mining due to the threat digital currencies pose to
financial stability. But the finance ministry prefers
legislation that regulates cryptocurrencies, allowing them as an
investment tool, but not as a means of payment.
The finance ministry's draft legislation aims to create a legal
market for digital currencies, it said on Monday.
One proposal is for transactions involving the purchase or sale
of cryptocurrency requiring customer identification, a move that
may diminish one of cryptocurrencies' major selling points -
their anonymity.
Other proposals include foreign cryptocurrency exchanges having
to obtain a licence in Russia, and introducing financial
literacy tests that determine how much individuals are permitted
to invest.
Citizens who successfully pass the tests would be permitted to
invest up to 600,000 roubles ($7,853) in digital currencies each
year, the finance ministry said. Those who fail would have an
investment limit set at 50,000 roubles annually.
The central bank also opposes cryptocurrency mining, whereby
powerful computers compete against others hooked up to a global
network to solve complex mathematical puzzles. The bank has
warned of inefficient energy consumption and the environmental
impact of the mining, while the finance ministry prefers to
permit mining under a taxation basis.
The central bank did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.
($1 = 76.4044 roubles)
(Reporting by Darya Korsunskaya; additional reporting by Elena
Fabrichnaya; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Katya
Golubkova and Kenneth Maxwell)
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