to be honest, news of this kind coming from a country like Belarus does not surprise me because we all know or at least I suppose we all know that Belarus is a country controlled by Russia and we all know Russia's position in relation to cryptocurrencies, especially in this wartime I have heard news of people who were arrested in Russia for using bitcoin, they are being accused of sending bitcoin to Ukrainians who are fighting, and see that for these people to be arrested is because the Russian government is monitoring all its people
Do I miss any update about cryptocurrency adoption in Russia since their invasion to Ukraine?
Russia announced their plan for
Digital Rubble in 2019. The progress is good as I know and they are in Pilot phase for their Digital Rubble. I remembered I read that in Russia, there are national conflicts on regulations cryptocurrency but I don't names of those authorities, Central bank and one more authority.
Russia Cryptocurrency LawsIn July 2020, Vladimir Putin signed a regulation on digital financial asset (DFA) transactions that legalizes cryptocurrency transactions but prohibits their use as payments for goods and services. Russian banks and exchanges can be operators of DFAs if they register with the central bank known as the Bank of Russia. The Bank of Russia has the authority to maintain registration of information systems and register operators of DFAs and supervise” the business of information system operators.” To challenge cryptocurrency transactions in court, parties must have declared these transactions and their possession of cryptocurrency.
Starting January 1, 2021, cryptocurrency owners whose transactions amount exceeds 600,000 rubles ($7,757) in a calendar year will be required to report their crypto transactions and wallet balances to the Russian tax authorities. The law applies equally to individuals and organizations. Russian governmental officials will be required to declare if they have any cryptocurrencies. The reporting deadline for these individuals and entities will be on April 30, 2022. Additionally, crypto exchanges and miners will be required to provide information on their cryptocurrency transactions to Rosfinmonitoring, the Federal Financial Monitoring Service. The finance ministry stated that the regulation is necessary to prevent illegal cryptocurrency transactions, including money laundering. The law will take effect on January 1, 2021.