Russia is preparing a bill that could significantly change the rules for working with cryptocurrencies. The document is planned to be submitted to the State Duma as early as next week, Forbes has learned.
According to the initiative, the usual methods of trading — through foreign crypto exchanges, exchangers and P2P services — may be outlawed. Banks are going to be prohibited from making payments to such platforms without the participation of Russian licensed intermediaries.
Instead, it is proposed to create a regulated circuit under the control of the Central Bank. Transactions will only be possible through official market participants, and a limit will be introduced for ordinary investors — no more than 300 thousand rubles per year.
At the same time, the restrictions will be much softer for qualified investors.
A separate block of changes concerns responsibility: fines may be introduced for violating the new rules, and in some cases, criminal liability.
The initiative is aimed at transferring cryptocurrency transactions to a regulated environment and strengthening control. For users, this may mean a reduction in available tools and a complication of the usual schemes for working with digital assets.
