On regulatory regulation of crypt-turness turnover in Russia
Автор: Litsevanov P.I.
Журнал: Форум молодых ученых @forum-nauka
Статья в выпуске: 3 (31), 2019 года.
Бесплатный доступ
This article discusses the possible regulation of cryptocurrency turnover in Russia. The experience of foreign countries in this direction and the possibility of its adaptation in Russia are analyzed. Recommendations are given on how to improve the existing draft law. It is predicted how potential regulation may affect entrepreneurship in our country.
Cryptocurrencies, digital assets, crypto traders
Короткий адрес: https://sciup.org/140285943
IDR: 140285943
Текст научной статьи On regulatory regulation of crypt-turness turnover in Russia
On February 27, President Vladimir Putin ordered the Government, together with the State Duma, until July 1, to ensure the adoption of laws regulating “digital financial assets and attracting financial resources using digital technologies”. Russia has a significant amount of time at the stage of forming a legislative base on the issue of cryptocurrency turnover, however, with the adoption of final bills, regulators are not in a hurry, which is understandable, since the formation of a legislative base regulating the financial industry in a new direction requires a certain time.
Consideration of possible options for state regulation of the turnover of digital assets in Russia, the consequences of their impact on the country's economy is a topical, urgent task facing our legislative bodies. In the past two years, a significant number of countries have decided on cryptocurrency regulation, and Russia should not become an exception. Analysis of the previous version of the draft law, consideration of foreign experience and the formulation of possible main points of the future draft law are fundamental steps to solve the problem.
The task designated by the President was set in 2017. Experts from leading companies and universities of the country were involved in the development of the new draft law, forming an expert council of the State Duma on the digital economy and blockchain technologies. On March 20, the draft law was submitted to the State Duma for consideration, the document is called the Federal Law “On Digital Financial Assets”. It contains the basic definitions, directions for regulating the circulation of cryptocurrency and the release of tokens, but despite its approval in the first reading, many experts subjected the draft law to harsh criticism.
The bill as a whole was characterized as unfavorable towards investors and entrepreneurs. The effectiveness of the main cryptocurrency instrument -ICO (primary placement of coins) - was greatly reduced due to the upper limit of invested capital. It was envisaged that the upper limit would be determined by the Central Bank, and it would be set at 50 thousand rubles. It becomes obvious that many companies will not want to place their tokens with such a low maximum threshold and will seek other, more favorable jurisdictions for their business.
For ordinary citizens who want to buy or sell digital currency, the situation is also complicated. They will have to go through the registration procedure for registered and verified cryptoexchange operators, which are currently missing. In the first version of the bill, there were also some inaccuracies, as stated by Anatoly Aksakov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market and responsible for the development of this regulatory act. In particular, he noted that the project requires clarification of concepts and careful analysis of possible options for the tax system.
In our opinion, our legislative bodies, in the matter of finalizing an existing project, need to more closely examine the experience of countries that have already decided on the appropriate regulation.
For a better understanding of what regulatory framework you can create in Russia, you need to consider the regulation of cryptocurrency in Belarus. The Republic of Belarus is a very close state of mentality for the Russian Federation and has certain similar features. Here, the regulation of cryptocurrency has been in effect since the end of 2017, when the decree “On the development of the digital economy” was introduced. According to this document, a soft regulation of digital currencies is being established in the country, namely:
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- citizens are allowed to freely own, exchange cryptocurrency, buy and sell it for the national currency, engage in mining;
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- activities with cryptocurrency are not classified as entrepreneurship and should not be declared;
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- on the territory of the state operates the High-Tech Park - a special economic zone for the development of IT business;
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- to counteract money laundering and financial crime, operators must identify their users;
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- for an ICO, a company must be a resident of the Park and have a share capital of 500 thousand Belarusian rubles (approximately 15 million Russian rubles).
Such a model can be taken as a basis in Russia. The state, in order to stimulate the development of the IT sector, needs to create favorable conditions for developing companies, freeing them from excessive tax burden and legal difficulties. Given the size of our state, it is possible to create similar economic zones in several parts of the country at once so that the regions can also develop. Supervisory bodies can be created on the ground, as the industry itself is in possession of shadow schemes. Outside such zones there may be a traditional tax system.
The establishment of the minimum size of the authorized capital for the ICO will be a good decision, since this will relatively increase the protection of investors. Also, this threshold in different regions can be set at different values in order to even development.
In addition to separate preferential economic zones, where cryptocurrency companies can operate in general access, it is also necessary to develop “regulatory sandboxes”. Such platforms are designed to test new regulatory models for financial products and financial technologies. In April 2018, the Central Bank conducted a similar test with the participation of Sberbank. Tokens were released on the site, which were subsequently purposelessly destroyed. This area must be developed and actively integrated into the legislative process, which will help to identify certain shortcomings and inaccuracies even before the adoption of a regulatory act.
It should be noted that on January 11, 2019 the draft law “On experimental legal regimes in the field of digital innovations in the Russian Federation” was already submitted to the State Duma. The desire to study and analyze the question of how modern critical currency solutions will help domestic companies to overcome sanctions restrictions, explains the interest in this law of the Ministry of Economic Development. Government agencies are aware of the importance of practice in this matter, and perhaps in the near future, “regulatory sandboxes” will become more widespread.
Today, the Japanese yen leads in the global cryptocurrency market in terms of value transactions. This is influenced by a favorable regulatory system, according to which cryptocurrencies on the territory of Japan are equated to legal tender. In addition, exchanges and exchangers are subject to registration with the supervisory authority and periodic inspections on its part. Tax collection from digital currency trading is carried out on a progressive scale.
In Russia, cryptocurrencies will hardly be accepted as a means of payment, since this is contrary to the Constitution, and the level of development of economic relations in our country differs significantly from Japan. At the current level of economic development, it will be the right decision to attribute cryptocurrency to the concept of assets and tax it by analogy with the stock market.
It seems that in order to ensure the reliability of transactions, exchanges and exchangers must go through the procedure of registration or licensing with the supervisory authority. This measure will allow the development of cryptobranch in our country not spontaneously, but systematically and harmoniously. Taxes levied on traders and investors will be a kind of payment to government agencies for improving the reliability of crypto-turnover.
Moreover, registration of exchanges and exchangers will be the only solution for the functioning of the taxation of cryptocurrency traders. By their nature, cryptocurrencies do not belong to the state and, of course, no crypto trader will voluntarily send to the supervisor reports on their trades for the past tax period. The only possibility for the state to have real information about traders' operations is to receive it from cryptoexchange operators, and the state can only transfer them data about operations, by registration or licensing. Consequently, without such procedures, the state will not be able to receive reliable information about the relevant taxable base.
This system of taxation and registration will be well combined with the model of preferential economic zones for IT companies in the context of control by supervisory authorities. Most likely, the function of controlling traders and controlling companies operating in concessional terms will be carried out by one body.
In conclusion, we note that the formation of a regulatory base in the field of functioning of cryptocurrencies, today is a crucial and topical task. It should be understood that in the short term, in order to counter financial crimes and money laundering, it is hardly possible to achieve fully liberal regulation of crypto-turnover. However, the efforts of the state to create a model that presupposes further progressive development of this industry should be systematic, for which it is necessary to provide incentive mechanisms for IT companies competing with other developers in the global market. Also, the decision to build a mechanism to protect investors and traders from fraudulent exchangers and exchanges should also become logical.
Used sources:
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1. The Ministry of Finance of Russia: The draft federal law "On digital currencies." URL: https://www.minfin.ru/ru/document/?id_4=121810 (access date: 03/02/2019)
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2. State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. URL: http://duma.gov.ru/ (appeal date: 03/02/2019)
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3. News portal: Bitcoin, blockchain, cryptocurrency, fintech. URL: http://forklog.com (access date: 03/02/2019)
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4. Official Internet portal of the President of the Republic of Belarus: Document “Decree No. 8 of December 21, 2017”. URL:
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5. The legal status of cryptocurrency in Japan. URL: https://forknews.io/legal/000304-pravovoj-status-kriptoval.html (appeal date: 03/02/2019)
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6. Regulation of cryptocurrency in Russia: features of the situation. URL: https://ff.ru/4949 (appeal date: 03/02/2019)
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7. The Constitution of the Russian Federation. URL: http://www.constitution.ru (appeal date: 03/02/2019)
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8. Consultant Plus - the legislation of the Russian Federation. URL: http://www.consultant.ru (appeal date: 03/02/2019)
(access date: 02.03.2019)
Список литературы On regulatory regulation of crypt-turness turnover in Russia
- The Ministry of Finance of Russia: The draft federal law "On digital currencies." URL: https://www.minfin.ru/ru/document/?id_4=121810 (access date: 03/02/2019)
- State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. URL: http://duma.gov.ru/ (appeal date: 03/02/2019)
- News portal: Bitcoin, blockchain, cryptocurrency, fintech. URL: http://forklog.com (access date: 03/02/2019)
- Official Internet portal of the President of the Republic of Belarus: Document "Decree No. 8 of December 21, 2017". URL: http://president.gov.by/ru/official_documents_ru/view/dekret-8-ot-21-dekabrja-2017-g-17716/ (access date: 02.03.2019)
- The legal status of cryptocurrency in Japan. URL: https://forknews.io/legal/000304-pravovoj-status-kriptoval.html (appeal date: 03/02/2019)
- Regulation of cryptocurrency in Russia: features of the situation. URL: https://ff.ru/4949 (appeal date: 03/02/2019)
- The Constitution of the Russian Federation. URL: http://www.constitution.ru (appeal date: 03/02/2019)
- Consultant Plus - the legislation of the Russian Federation. URL: http://www.consultant.ru (appeal date: 03/02/2019)