The Russian Prime Minister has outlined the government’s plans to amend existing laws to recognize cryptocurrency as property. This means that Bitcoin owners have the legal right to defend and recover their cryptocurrencies in court.
Russia recognizes Bitcoin as property
During Thursday’s government meeting, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin spoke about Russia’s plans to regulate cryptocurrency, among other initiatives to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
After outlining several solutions that the Russian government had worked out, Mishustin said, “Another solution concerns cryptocurrencies.” He added, “This is a relatively new instrument and interest is growing all the time.”
The Russian Prime Minister continued, “The government plans to steer the development of this market in a civilized direction so that the owners of such assets can protect their rights and interests, and creating shadow programs would be difficult.” To achieve this, Mishustin said: “Let’s make a number of changes to the tax code.”
Digital financial assets are recognized as property and their owners can count on legal protection in the event of illegal activity and defend their property rights in court.
Although there have been discussions among lawmakers about treating Bitcoin as taxable property, it is not yet official. Various courts have therefore decided for themselves whether the cryptocurrency should be recognized as property. In July, a Russian court denied a crypto owner the return of his cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin. The court ruled that Bitcoin was not a crime as it was not considered property under Russian law. Last December, the Supreme Court ruled that tokens are assets such as money and property.
Russia will start regulating the cryptocurrency next year. President Vladimir Putin signed the crypto law in August. However, Russian lawmakers are still trying to add to the bill.
In November, the Treasury Department developed new changes to the crypto regulation that introduced new rules and penalties for unreported and unreported cryptocurrencies. Meanwhile, the Bank of Russia is asking for public comments on the Central Bank’s digital currency (CBDC), the digital ruble.
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