Russia seems to be the next country on the list to pass bitcoin regulations. On 5th, March, Vladimir Putin, Russian President announced plans to put cryptocurrency regulations in place by July 2018. This regulatory action will define the future of bitcoin and all other digital currencies in the country.
Talks of passing crypto regulations have been going on in Russia since last year. The Central Bank of Russia sees cryptocurrencies as investment risks and is against legalizing it for investment. On the other hand, the Russian Ministry of Finance desires to regulate the crypto market to deliver a safer environment for investors and to manage crypto trading within the country better.
This difference in opinion has delayed the regulatory process long enough. Putin has now cemented a deadline for the regulatory bill, now known as the Digital Assets Regulation Bill. We will know about full details regarding the country’s crypto regulations by 1st July.
It is to be noted that Vitalik Buterin, the man behind Ethereum, and Pavel Durov, the guy who created Telegram, which leads to the biggest ICO, are both Russian citizens. Thus, current speculations are that Russia will move in favor of bitcoins. If anything, the regulations will surely not hinder the innovations entangled with cryptocurrencies. The country will surely keep on producing more such innovations.
Now, it is anticipated that the regulations will be as expected by the Ministry of Finance - helping to create a more secure environment for domestic investors. Currently, Russia doesn’t constitute much of bitcoin’s global trading volumes. However, experts believe that with the passing of official regulations Russia’s contribution will surely grow. With more buyers and sellers, more liquidity will also be added to BTC prices.
A common trend in the world of cryptocurrencies is to see a drop in a certain crypto price as soon as some country comes forward with new rules and regulations relating said digital currency. However, all regulations are not bad, and in case of Russia, it might even turn into a blessing for bitcoin.