7 October 2022
Russia to acknowledge Bitcoin as Property
The Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin spoke about Russia’s plans on cryptocurrency regulations along with other subjects such as the initiatives to fight against the spread of COVID-19 in a government meeting on Thursday.
The Russian government had laid out various solutions, including Mishustin stated, “Another solution concerns cryptocurrencies.” Adding, “This is a relatively new tool, interest in which is constantly growing.”
He elaborated stating, “The government plans to direct the development of this market in a civilized direction so that the owners of such assets can protect their rights and interests, and the creation of shadow schemes would be difficult.”
In order to attain the mentioned concern, “Let’s make a number of changes to the tax code.”
The Prime Minister said that the “Digital financial assets will be recognized as property, and their owners will be able to count on legal protection in the event of any illegal actions, as well as defend their property rights in court.”
The lawmakers have been discussing about treating bitcoin as a taxable property however it is not yet official. Hence, different courts have concluded decisions on their own whether to acknowledge cryptocurrency as property.
In July, a cryptocurrency owner was denied the return of his cryptocurrencies that also included bitcoin by a Russian court, thus, the judge stated that bitcoin was not treated as a property under the Russian law and therefore its theft will not be considered as a crime.
Last year in December, the Supreme Court had ruled that the tokens were to be treated as assets just like property and money.
The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin signed a crypto bill into law that would be regulated next year. However, lawmakers are working to add more to the bill.
The Ministry of Finance in November had developed new amendments consisting of new rules and penalties for unreported and underreported cryptocurrencies to the cryptocurrency regulation. Also, meantime, the Bank of Russia is seeking through public comments on the CBDC - the Central Bank Digital Currency and the digital rubble.