Russian government decided to treat crypto like currency instead of assets

Got this from a widely read newspaper in Russia: So the Russian government along with the Bank of Russia has come to a consensus to regulate cryptocurrencies as currencies rather than as assets. By February 18, they’re planning to roll out a draft law that recognizes cryptocurrencies as a currency equivalent, not as digital financial assets (DFA). For them to be used legally, full identification will be required, either through banks or licensed intermediaries. If you’re making transactions over 600,000 rubles, you’ll need to declare them. Anything outside the legal framework for those amounts will be treated as a criminal offense, plus they’ll introduce fines for anyone illegally accepting crypto as payment. Just so you know, mining and anything related to DFAs aren’t included in this concept they’re working on. The government released the approved "Concept for regulating the mechanisms for organizing the circulation of digital currencies" after discussions with Deputy Prime Minister and Chief of Staff Dmitry Grigorenko. They haven't touched on specifics regarding the "transition period" or mining in this concept. For more details, check this out here. And yeah, definitely take a look at what u/dimitrisnikolaou posted, it's pretty interesting!

I think this is a complicated matter. Some cryptocurrencies are not currencies, specially tokens. IMO, just bitcoin, ETH and a few others are really currencies. Most of them are financial assets (and they are even run by companies , like XRP ). Let's see how will this legislation develop. I found  an article in cointelegraph talking just about bitcoin: https://cointelegraph.com/news/russian-gov-t-and-central-bank-agree-to-treat-bitcoin-as-currency We need KYC to buy fiat currencies as well. We can avoid KYC sometimes, but it will be always hard to do so.

I'm having mixed feelings about this... Not sure what happened that they suddenly changed their stance from a blanket ban to this [I'm probably going to sound like a pessimistic person, but it feels like a trap to me (especially with the imposed restrictions in regards to their circulation)]. - There are still issues surrounding undeclared cryptocurrencies...

Please wait until 18th Feb 2022. That's the date when the Russian government will release their draft legislation for further debate and discussions. It's a good move to regulate bitcoin as a currency because that is what it is. But I am very curious to know how they want to do it! Definitely they are not going replace rubble and they are not going to accept bitcoin as a legal tender. So it's very interesting to see how they want to regulate it as a currency. But I would request everyone, not to believe a Communist government because things can become very different that it looks like. There could be a huge difference between what they are saying now and what they have planned for the future.

I find it difficult to understand the meaning and purpose of Russia, points (not assets). The method. Isn't it, the main foundations of crypto are driven by law as I quote below. I can't wait to hear new ideas and news, what Russia wants to do with crypto, I'm really curious.

Seems they gonna make a positive move of legalized bitcoin in their country.Russia with huge amount of individual billionaire, so the people of Russia gonna make a huge change in the price of bitcoin.Since they legalized, surely the price of bitcoin gonna had some changes soon. It's seems to be a agreed one. But I had a question, why should the communist government gonna a make a law based on the cryptocurrency. The communist government will try to control the bitcoin after the legalization. But may or maynot be positive impact in the price of bitcoin.

Its a bit confusing to think this wouldn't be seen as good news and yet the Bitcoin price keeps dropping, even in light of this news. Is the regulation for currency somehow of a lesser advantage than the regulation of an asset? Surely you have pay taxes on both... And if anything, the fact that it is regulated as a currency could mean a door opening for the legalisation of Bitcoin as legal tender? Like in El Salvador?

This is a link to a good source(RU) https://tass.ru/ekonomika/13754269 Nothing changed. The Central Bank wants to neutralize cryptocurrencies in Russia as much as possible by banning banks, commercial organizations, etc. And the Ministry of Finance wants to regulate this area. But there is no result yet. It is not even clear what taxes will have to be paid. __ Just do not write more about the Communist government, this is complete nonsense.

Fuck! That article tells a completely different story from the OP. There has been no progress and what the Bank of Russia wants is to ban and ban. What I liked about what was said in the OP is the limit below which you didn't have to declare. The problem we are facing around the world is that in the vast majority of countries Bitcoin has been regulated analogously to some stocks or mutual funds. So, if you go and pay for a coffee with Bitcoin, you would have to declare that as a partial sale of your holdings. Setting a limit below which it cannot be declared avoids the problem and helps it to become an everyday currency. But well, it looks like Russia is going the other way now.

Most people in Russia are satisfied with this situation. While the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance are arguing about the bill and making their proposals, the owners of cryptocurrencies do not need to pay taxes and receive additional problems.Time is our ally, thanks to the lack of regulation in Russia, about 20 million people are already using, studying, investing in cryptocurrencies.