Russia to make bitcoin a currency

[_act_]

I do not want to repeat what I have posted before about what was going on in Russia and how the Central Bank of Russia were making moves to make sure crypto transactions are banned in the country, they want to follow what China did. But the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin later spoke good about bitcoin mining and believe this will do the country good.

If you are interested to read about it:
Fate of bitcoin in Russia

If the president had not made his own research, the Central Bank of Russia might have succeeded. After the good news from Vladimir Putin, Russia wants to make bitcoin a currency.

Russian government and central bank agree to treat Bitcoin as currency

Russia’s government and central bank are now working on a draft law that will define crypto as an “analogue of currencies” rather than digital financial assets set to be launched on Feb. 18. Cryptocurrencies would function in the legal industry only if they have complete identification through the banking system or licensed intermediaries.

Kommersant noted that Bitcoin (BTC) transactions and possession of cryptocurrency in the Russian Federation are not prohibited; however, they must be done through a “digital currency exchange organizer” (a bank) or a peer-to-peer exchange licensed in the country.

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[pinggoki]

That's pretty cool, but isn't Russia is a big adversary of cryptocurrency? So I really have some doubts about bitcoin being buddy buddy with Putin, maybe he wants the corruption in his regime reach a new heights, hopefully this is still going to give a positive effect on bitcoin. With Russia planning to adopt bitcoin, we might see more Russian allied countries follow suit though.

[_act_]

So I really have some doubts about bitcoin being buddy buddy with Putin, maybe he wants the corruption in his regime reach a new heights

Click on the link, read about it very well, only what people can against is that banks and legalized exchanges that will be used will be centralized, but what do we expect, it would. In this way, I do not see any corruption that will occur that fiat is not used for. Do not be of the mindset that bitcoin bring about scam and corruption like fiat and DeFi.

[Gozie51]

Well not yet so . I do not see the news as an express adoption of bitcoin in Russia. Putin just made a statement that perhaps would not allow a ban or restriction to cryptocurrency but not a pass like e El Salvador did. The status is not that it would make bitcoin illegal like the banks initially wanted. At it is I think CBDC will be a way to start for Russia so they can handle other political challenges bedevilling them at the moment.

[stompix]

The good news, they are not banning it so we can close that chapter.
The bad news, they are "legalizing it" russian style.

The mode of operation of the legal segment involves the full identification of the client according to banking rules, work taking into account AML / CFT requirements, all information about transactions through the Transparent Blockchain system of Rosfinmonitoring will be available for state control in the same way as transactions with non-cash rubles or foreign currency on bank accounts.

The possession of cryptocurrency in the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and transactions with it (as well as with the dollar) are not prohibited - but only through the "organizer of the digital currency exchange system" (a bank with a universal license) or a p2p exchanger legalized in the Russian Federation.

Well, to be honest, this would be the best we could have got, thinking that they would not bind the legalization with a ton of requirements was just daydreaming, so let's hope the change from the draft to the law doesn't become more punitive.

Oh, another good part is they didn't mention any extra tax, maybe just maybe  

[HeRetiK]

If the president had not made his own research, the Central Bank of Russia might have succeeded. After the good news from Vladimir Putin, Russia wants to make bitcoin a currency.

My guess is that his change of mind is more likely to have come from some of his oligarch friends having found Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining to be rather profitable

Well not yet so . I do not see the news as an express adoption of bitcoin in Russia. Putin just made a statement that perhaps would not allow a ban or restriction to cryptocurrency but not a pass like e El Salvador did.

Yes, declaring Bitcoin a currency is not the same as declaring it legal tender. Since many countries already treat Bitcoin like a currency, at least in regards to tax, it's not quite as huge a step as it seems to be. But at least it's not going in completely the wrong direction.

[_act_]

Well not yet so . I do not see the news as an express adoption of bitcoin in Russia. Putin just made a statement that perhaps would not allow a ban or restriction to cryptocurrency but not a pass like e El Salvador did.

Yes, declaring Bitcoin a currency is not the same as declaring it legal tender. Since many countries already treat Bitcoin like a currency, at least in regards to tax, it's not quite as huge a step as it seems to be. But at least it's not going in completely the wrong direction.

Probably Gozie51 skipped the main part of the story, his comment is about the first link which I only used to explain what was going on before the second link. @Gozie51, click on the second link and read it or read some part of it from the quote. You have also been told that legal tender is not the same as legal currency, it is not necessary to make bitcoin a legal tender before you can make it a legal currency.

[macson]

snip

what the president of russia is doing is the right thing because rejecting Bitcoin today is like rejecting technological progress.  El Salvador is still the first country to make Bitcoin as a legal tender, and after Russia recognized Bitcoin as a currency, are they going to make Bitcoin as a legal tender there!  i'm looking forward to episode after episode that will happen again.

[tabas]

He should've said that earlier. AFAIK, their very own genius Vitalik has been working with a government project but it's not about bitcoin, probably with his ETH.
This is a positive development. With just approval and a few words from Putin then things would come as he wants to go if it's about bitcoin in a positive note for telling it as a currency.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

Interesting, but you'd think Russia would have its collective mind on more important things than replacing its fiat currency or promoting mining at a time like this when there's so much political/military tension in the country. 

Aside from that, I was recently looking at electricity rates around the world and discovered that Russia has some of the lowest.  If you're a bitcoin (or altcoin) miner, it'd be fantastic to set up a big farm somewhere where the weather is always cold and power is cheap.  But I'm always confused as to the state of legality regarding bitcoin in two countries: Russia and China.  Is bitcoin mining legal in Russia or not?  I could swear the last I heard it was not.  If that's the case, hopefully Putin is coming around to making it OK to do so in Russia again.

My guess is that his change of mind is more likely to have come from some of his oligarch friends having found Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining to be rather profitable

Yeah well, I can't imagine he'd be making statements like this just for the hell of it.  No politician would do that; there's got to be some kind of incentive for Putin or any other world leader to publicly praise bitcoin.

[merchantofzeny]

Oh how the turn tables.  The government is far from being trustworthy and it could be a ruse to find out who own how much but this is still a good news regardless. And if they push through with this, it's gonna be a big development. Russia is no El Salvador, the IMF would probably not try to harass.

That's pretty cool, but isn't Russia is a big adversary of cryptocurrency? So I really have some doubts about bitcoin being buddy buddy with Putin, maybe he wants the corruption in his regime reach a new heights, hopefully this is still going to give a positive effect on bitcoin. With Russia planning to adopt bitcoin, we might see more Russian allied countries follow suit though.

If it become widespread there I suppose it could be a way for their economy to still function despite any new sanctions.

[HeRetiK]

My guess is that his change of mind is more likely to have come from some of his oligarch friends having found Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining to be rather profitable

Yeah well, I can't imagine he'd be making statements like this just for the hell of it.  No politician would do that; there's got to be some kind of incentive for Putin or any other world leader to publicly praise bitcoin.

Game theory at it's finest, isn't it? Once enough folks get some Bitcoin just in case, you're bound to end up with people at the top getting in as well and thus their interests start aligning with the rest of the Bitcoin world...

[fiulpro]

Considering the fact that the Russian economy is struggling and at the same time the COVID cases are not getting better I do think that this mindset could help them. This can also be in preparation of the war that they might be about to start as well. Bitcoins can help get the funding in place and sending would be more easier since they were trying to do it with the gold deposits that Putin has saved up. But at the end of the day it's an amazing place for mining and soon enough this might not only be profitable for them but can also encourage other countries as well. But I am not really sure that it's something that can be trusted. *We will have to wait for a proper white paper or a law*

[kryptqnick]

Imposing a limitation of crypto transactions and even possession to banks and crypto exchanges licensed in Russia is actually very significant and not pro-crypto. First, it means that hodling your own keys will essentially be illegal because it's not a bank account or a crypto exchange. Second, even doing something like Binance trading's also illegal because there's no way Binance obtained a special Russian license, and I'm sure many popular exchanges won't bother with countries that require special licenses, unless it's a country of huge financial significance (like the US). So even the draft law, which might not actually pass, isn't looking that good, even though it might initially sound bullish.

[Fortify]

I do not want to repeat what I have posted before about what was going on in Russia and how the Central Bank of Russia were making moves to make sure crypto transactions are banned in the country, they want to follow what China did. But the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin later spoke good about bitcoin mining and believe this will do the country good.

If you are interested to read about it:
Fate of bitcoin in Russia

If the president had not made his own research, the Central Bank of Russia might have succeeded. After the good news from Vladimir Putin, Russia wants to make bitcoin a currency.

Russian government and central bank agree to treat Bitcoin as currency

Russia’s government and central bank are now working on a draft law that will define crypto as an “analogue of currencies” rather than digital financial assets set to be launched on Feb. 18. Cryptocurrencies would function in the legal industry only if they have complete identification through the banking system or licensed intermediaries.

Kommersant noted that Bitcoin (BTC) transactions and possession of cryptocurrency in the Russian Federation are not prohibited; however, they must be done through a “digital currency exchange organizer” (a bank) or a peer-to-peer exchange licensed in the country.

It's an interesting development to see, that's for sure. It looks like there is a tussle going on between the Russian Central Bank and Ministry of Finance. To me it seems that cryptocurrency is a very powerful tool for a country like Russia, who can use it to transport funds in an obfuscated way across borders and they are probably looking for any options that could diminish the power that the SWIFT system has over them. It would be unwise to cut Russia off from SWIFT at any point, but the threat is a possibility in extreme situations and would do them a lot of harm. Ultimately however, it does not make sense to ban such currencies and it seems that sanity has prevailed.

[Vaculin]

Considering the fact that the Russian economy is struggling and at the same time the COVID cases are not getting better I do think that this mindset could help them. This can also be in preparation of the war that they might be about to start as well. Bitcoins can help get the funding in place and sending would be more easier since they were trying to do it with the gold deposits that Putin has saved up. But at the end of the day it's an amazing place for mining and soon enough this might not only be profitable for them but can also encourage other countries as well. But I am not really sure that it's something that can be trusted. *We will have to wait for a proper white paper or a law*

Bitcoin will turn to be a good asset for Russia since it will minimize the threat to Russia's financial system. I think just like El Salvador, they start to believe that bitcoin will be a hedge against inflation and it will totally improve the struggling economy of Russia since its also widely affected with this covid 19 economic crisis. And to think that adopting of bitcoin could lessen the growth of poverty rate, then putting it in a law will be good enough for legalization.

[Fatunad]

I do always have those doubts that they had created some FUD on banning it out and then making up some u-turn just because they had finished on placing themselves or buying on the bottom?
and now they are making out some positive sentiments for making the market going up? Well, its just my presumption yet those views is something that considerable or true speaking.
Im aint surprised that they would really be making out some u-turn and at least they do make out some realizations.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

Game theory at it's finest, isn't it? Once enough folks get some Bitcoin just in case, you're bound to end up with people at the top getting in as well and thus their interests start aligning with the rest of the Bitcoin world...

I don't know much about game theory other than what I learned when reading about John Nash's life, but yeah, I guess the big wigs aren't exempt from the fear of missing out on something that's performed as well as bitcoin has.  It's doubtful Putin himself owns any, but who knows. 

On the other hand, that wouldn't explain why bitcoin is either illegal or highly regulated in certain parts of the world.  If politicians really were getting in on bitcoin, you'd think they'd take more of a hands-off approach when it comes to lawmaking. 

And to think that adopting of bitcoin could lessen the growth of poverty rate, then putting it in a law will be good enough for legalization.

Bitcoin isn't ever going to alleviate poverty.  It doesn't have the innate ability to do so--same for any other asset or currency; poor people don't have enough money in general, so how is bitcoin going to help them?  I've seen arguments like yours many times over the years on this forum, and it always baffles me why they're made.  If you or anyone else can tell me how any cryptocurrency can raise someone from below the poverty line to a stable financial state, I'm all ears and I'd love to hear it.

[HeRetiK]

Game theory at it's finest, isn't it? Once enough folks get some Bitcoin just in case, you're bound to end up with people at the top getting in as well and thus their interests start aligning with the rest of the Bitcoin world...

I don't know much about game theory other than what I learned when reading about John Nash's life, but yeah, I guess the big wigs aren't exempt from the fear of missing out on something that's performed as well as bitcoin has.  It's doubtful Putin himself owns any, but who knows. 

I also doubt Putin himself holds any, but if anyone who's sufficiently close to him were to have vested interest in Bitcoin it would help soften his stance a bit.

On the other hand, that wouldn't explain why bitcoin is either illegal or highly regulated in certain parts of the world.  If politicians really were getting in on bitcoin, you'd think they'd take more of a hands-off approach when it comes to lawmaking.

I can see two potential reasons for this: (1) not all countries will have well connected people that are interested in Bitcoin and (2) if you're important enough rules and regulations don't quite apply to you, at least for a little while.

[lalabotax]

After the good news from Vladimir Putin, Russia wants to make bitcoin a currency.

Isn't this too hasty? Yesterday, we heard them plan to ban crypto, but today want Bitcoin to be a currency. I'm a bit confused with the Rusia style in treating crypto. I don't want to speculate about the future of crypto in Rusia, it may change again in a short time. But surely this news will bring good impacts to crypto market. At least, this news triggers the prices of crypto coins to increase again. Regarding whether Rusia is serious to make BTC be a legal currency there, to be honest I doubt it.