The U.S. and the E.U. imposed severe sanctions on Russia’s economy, and, contrary to popular belief, very little Russian money has been channeled through cryptocurrency. Russia’s Central Bank is now looking for ways to incorporate blockchain technology and digital assets into the country’s financial system.
Elvira Nabiullina, Governor of the Central Bank of Russia (CBR), addressed the State Duma (lower house) as the CBR published a report for public comment titled “Digital Assets in the Russian Federation.”
The document proposes more detailed rules for taxing digital securities and utility tokens, as well as a legal framework for tokenizing securities, debt, precious metals, and stones, and issuing NFTs that certify property rights.
It considers how the sanctioned state might open its domestic market to foreign digital asset issuers.
It also included the following in the report:
1) Accounting and taxation reform recommendations.
2) Protection for small investors.
3) Digital asset regulation.
4) Tokenisation and smart contracts are linked to digital property rights.
The Bank of Russia also proposed incorporating digital asset trading into traditional stock exchange infrastructure.
According to the report, the rules for access to the digital assets market should be harmonized with those of traditional securities markets, so that unqualified investors can access both within the 100,000 rubles ($1,640) or more limit if they pass a financial literacy test.
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