The Russian government has put forth a roadmap to regulate the cryptocurrency industry in the country, instead of imposing a blanket ban, according to the Russian news agency, RBK.
The road map, which has been signed by the Deputy Chairman of the government Dmitry Chernyshenko, seeks to end anonymity from the crypto industry by mandating know-your-customer (KYC ) and making the crypto companies liable for any lapses.
Heavy Regulations, but Not a Ban
According to the proposed timetable, the Russian Ministry of Finance should design a compliance control platform for peer-to-peer platforms by May, and the crypto industry should adopt the global Financial Action Task Force-recommended anti-money laundering (AML ) guidelines by November. Furthermore, the rules for registration and reporting by crypto platforms should be prepared by the year-end.
Moreover, the document recommends administrative and criminal punishment for any failures in declaring cryptocurrency transactions.
In addition, it explored the idea of bringing a law to mandate the declaration of crypto holdings by all Russians but has not put any timeline to that.
The draft for the crypto regulation plan was prepared by a working group with members from several Russian ministries and agencies. Furthermore, it came only a week after the Bank of Russia revealed its intentions to entirely ban the circulation of cryptocurrencies in the country.
The recommendations of the draft are challenging the central bank’s proposal towards crypto, but the regulator maintained its descent for the regulations, according to anonymous sources of the Russian publication.
Earlier, Russia legalized cryptocurrency by terming them as property, but banned their usage for payments. However, laws around cryptocurrencies in the country are still complicated.
