Miners will not be able to receive remuneration in bitcoins and ethers if the amendments to the Federal law on digital financial assets (CFA) proposed by the Ministry of Finance are adopted. "News" was acquainted with the document, aimed at interagency coordination. It implies that it will be possible to produce cryptocurrency in Russia, but it will not be possible to get paid for it in the usual form. The amendments introduce a direct ban on all transactions with virtual money, except for three cases that are classified as exceptions. Transactions with digital currency are subject to administrative and criminal liability. Citizens can receive up to 100,000 rubles in fines and up to seven years in prison.
You can do it, but you can't get it
The proposals of the Ministry of Finance prohibit receiving payment for mining in cryptocurrency, according to his letter to the departments. Operations for the production of virtual money are allowed, but they are deprived of financial value, since payment is usually charged in bitcoins and ethers.
This wording does not Bode well for miners, since it is unclear how they can receive remuneration, said Dmitry Zakharov, CEO of Moscow Digital School. Perhaps experts will try to come up with some interesting legal constructions, but all of them will involve significant risks of bringing to administrative and criminal responsibility, he warned.
The amendments also contain a direct ban on individuals and individual entrepreneurs to perform any operations with virtual money except in three situations. These include inheritance, acquisition of assets through bankruptcy and enforcement proceedings.
It is proposed to introduce administrative and criminal liability for illegal turnover of digital money, as well as transactions with it and its use as payment for goods and services in Russia. For citizens, this is up to 100 thousand rubles of a fine and seven years of imprisonment, for legal entities - up to 1 million rubles of a fine.
The document submitted by the Ministry of Finance requires a lot of improvement, the lawyers interviewed noted in solidarity. "News" has sent a request to the Ministry.
At the stage of adoption of the document, lawmakers realized that no one understands it, and decided to specify it, but it turned out even less clear, commented Roman Yankovsky, an adviser to the IT practice of Tomashevskaya&Partners of Russia. These proposals have yet to be finalized to the state of normal law, he concluded.
It is still difficult to say how the legal norms that allow using mining equipment in Russia, but prohibit receiving payment in digital currency, will be applied, said Anton Babenko, partner of the Padva & Epstein law firm. According to him, such a measure is unprofitable for our country, as it may lead to the fact that the corresponding income will be hidden, and this will lead to tax losses, he added.
Only after the death of
The draft law on digital financial assets, which has been under development for more than two years, was adopted by the state Duma in the third reading in July. Already at this stage, it became clear that a separate law regulating the turnover of bitcoins and ethers, apparently,will not be. Although earlier, the Chairman of the state Duma Committee on the financial market Anatoly Aksakov and the Central Bank Chairman Elvira Nabiullina called to separate the bills on the Central BANK and digital currency, which cause great controversy, and quickly adopt the first, as the market asks for it.
The letter from the Ministry of Finance confirms this: it contains a proposal to Supplement the CFA law with provisions on the circulation of virtual money.
The Ministry's initiative tightens the screws even more, said Mikhail Uspensky, Deputy Chairman of the Commission for legal support of the digital economy of the Moscow branch of the Russian bar Association. The most striking example is inheritance: a digital asset can be bequeathed, but it can not be given, it turns out that for the legal transfer of bitcoin within the family, a person will only have to take his own life, he ironically says.
The package proposed by the Ministry of Finance can be described as extremely strict and, in fact, establishing a total ban on the turnover of cryptocurrencies in Russia, summed up Efim Kazantsev, managing partner of the EC&P law firm. In his opinion, given the proposed administrative and criminal liability, this will be a serious blow to the Russian cryptosphere.
The bill on digital assets also causes a lot of complaints from the agencies that will administer it. In June, Deputy justice Minister Denis Novak warned that the FSPP would have difficulties implementing it. It is unclear how the sale of digital currency will take place in enforcement proceedings, given that the bill prohibits its purchase on the territory of Russia, said the review of Denis Novak.
If transactions with virtual currencies are banned in Russia, as required by the bill, it will be impossible to sell bitcoins and ethers on account of the defaulter's debt — no one will be able to buy them, the Deputy Minister stated.
Earlier, the Ministry of communications saw the danger that not only cryptocurrencies, but also loyalty programs, crowdfunding and charity projects may be banned. The Ministry of economic development expressed concern that the Russian economy may suffer losses if operations with digital coins are pushed out of the country, the media reported.
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