Russia might not only follow China in its battle against the cryptocurrency market but even go ahead of Beijing with an outright ban on holding cryptocurrencies, according to Anatoly Aksakov, the chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee. As per iHodl Russia, the authorities are now discussing two approaches on how to regulate the cryptocurrency market: from a complete ban to legalization of cryptocurrency exchanges.
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"There are very tough approaches that completely prohibit the purchase and ownership of cryptocurrencies. There is an approach that there should be appropriate cryptocurrency exchanges, trading platforms should be legalized in order for everything to be transparent, understandable to regulatory authorities so that the same FTS (Federal Tax Service) could easier tax these operations," said Aksakov.
Aksakov also spoke in favor of taxing the industry, which will allow providing miners with electricity not at a preferential price for individuals, as it is done currently, but at a price for industrial consumers. It remains unclear though when exactly Russia might legalize or ban the industry.
Earlier in December, Russian Prosecutor General, Igor Krasnov, said that the country is working on the development of regulations governing the circulation of cryptocurrencies. The watchdog — according to Krasnov — developed amendments to a number of regulatory legal acts so that cryptocurrencies in illegal circulation would not only be recognized as the subject of a crime, but there was also a legal possibility of their confiscation.
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