Crypto Legislation in Russia Disappoints | List of ICO

Ever since the beginning of 2018, Russia is planning to pass cryptocurrency regulation with no avail. The bill issued by the government titled “On Digital Technologies” was scheduled to be passed on 1 July 2018. Vladimir Putin, the Russian President has pushed this date to October to coincide with the upcoming Duma session. As per Artem Tolkachev, “the complexity o the subject and lack of consensus over the state authorities about how and what they should regulate”, the bill’s date has been extended. Artem claims to be the first lawyer to start working on Bitcoin (BTC) and blockchain startups in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Russia’s Central Bank and the Ministry of Economic Development are clashing over cryptocurrency regulations. Central Bank holds a conservative outlook, while the Ministry of Economic Development is looking to attract investors and businesses. Tolkachev has been the chairman of the Russian Blockchain community for the past two years. He was also the founder of the Blockchain Lab at Deloitte CIS. Tolkachev is dissatisfied with the current version of the cryptocurrency regulation towards ICO and the amendments to the Russian CivilrnCode, calling their legislation “rather ineffective”. Tolkachev says “I spent around two years discussing with the central bank, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economic Development, the general security service and all other guys how we can regulate this stuff. And I was trying to sell the idea that we can be the country who attracts that kind of business and have the crypto-friendly environment here. Unfortunately, we have what we have. What can I say? That’s it.” The first version of the original bill was opposed by the Bank of Russia. This news was uncovered by TASS, the local Russian news outlet. The bank did not come to an agreement on the way transactions between rubles, crypto and foreign currencies. The bill has given smart contracts equal legitimacy as a written consent. It also talks about using cryptocurrencies as a method of payment in controlled quantities.