Crypto bill incoming: Russia’s finance ministry kicks off public comment period

The Ministry of Finance is seeking industry and public input on how to regulate digital assets by March 18.

The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation has officially initiated work on the country’s cryptocurrency regulation bill, filing the first public notice on the federal legal portal.

Russia’s finance ministry on Thursday filed two development notices announcing the start of the process of developing a legal framework for activities related to transactions with digital currencies and their issuance.

The first notice, called “On Digital Currency,” informs about the government launching a public consultation on rules for digital asset transactions, inviting proposals from financial market participants, citizens and legal entities. The second notice details a similar process for possible amendments to other federal laws that “On Digital Currency” may necessitate.

According to the notices, the ministry expects to finalize public consultations for the crypto bill by March 18.

The draft of the bill itself is not released at the time of writing. According to a spokesperson at the ministry, the authority expects to make the document public in the next three weeks. “The public discussion procedure takes place in several stages. We are currently at the initial stage of informing about the beginning of development,” the representative noted.

Russian finance minister Anton Siluanov reportedly expects the crypto bill to be passed by the end of 2022.

According to local reports, the Russian government has been expected to introduce federal crypto regulations by Friday, aiming to finally establish a common ground on crypto regulation with the central bank of Russia.

The Finance Ministry previously released a concept for regulating the crypto market, proposing to limit crypto exposure of non-professional investors and put the crypto infrastructure under the authority of a single “digital currency exchange organizer.”