Cryptocurrency legislation in the Russian Federation: taxation and mining

With the entry into force of the Law “On Digital and Financial Assets” on January 1, 2021, the situation on the crypto market withthe regulatory point of view has become more transparent.In particular, the law defined digital assets as property, and the owners of cryptocurrencies received guarantees of rights in the event of declaring assets. Despite this, many aspects of the crypto industry in Russia still have an uncertain status and are in a gray zone. RBC Crypto writes about this.

For example, the law on CFA does not have a clear answer tothe question of what is cryptocurrency. There is no concept of "cryptocurrency" in the law, but only "digital financial assets" and "digital currency". Although within the framework of current legal practice, these concepts are identical, the absence of the word cryptocurrency creates additional confusion.

The digital currency in the law is defined by a complexworded as "a set of electronic data (digital code or designation) contained in an information system, which are offered and (or) can be accepted as a means of payment ... or an international monetary or unit of account, and (or) as an investment" (Article 1 ). At the same time, residents of the Russian Federation are not allowed to receive digital currency as payment for goods, works or services (Article 14).

Taxation

The law on CFA regulates taxationcryptocurrencies and promises Russians to protect their property rights to cryptocurrency only when it is declared. In the case of receiving income from the sale of digital assets, the taxable base will be calculated as the difference between their purchase and sale prices.

Judicial precedents

Due to gaps in regulation, a number of problems arise that are regularly paid attention to, including by representatives of law enforcement agencies.

In December 2020, Alexander Bastrykin proposedrecognize cryptocurrency as property. The head of the Investigative Committee noted that this "is a prerequisite for the investigation of criminal cases in which digital currency is, for example, the subject of bribes or theft."

Blockchain platform activities

According to the current version of the law on CFA, all transactions withdigital financial assets "are made through a digital financial asset exchange operator." When making such transactions, operators may be "credit organizations, trade organizers, as well as other legal entities" entered in a special register.

На данный момент российские власти все еще не came to a common conclusion about the status of cryptocurrencies. A year has passed since the adoption of the law, but the participants in the register of the CFA still do not exist. In the spring of 2021, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) drew the attention of the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Russia to this problem and asked to speed up the formation of the register. In fact, there is still not a single legal entity in the Russian Federation that can legally issue digital assets.

Mining

At the moment, Russia has lost in volumebitcoin hashrate to Kazakhstan remains in the top five largest countries in the world by this indicator. According to the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance, in July this year, Russia's share was 6.8%.

At the same time, the concept of mining in the Russian Federation is in no wayit is regulated, but it is not mentioned in the law on CFA. There is law enforcement practice in relation to mining only in matters of illegal use of electricity and in the case of property conflicts between miners.

Where is it more profitable to buy cryptocurrency? TOP-5 exchanges

For a safe and convenient purchase of cryptocurrencies with a minimum commission, we have prepared a rating of the most reliable and popular cryptocurrency exchanges that support deposits and withdrawals of funds inrubles, hryvnias, dollars and euros.

The reliability of the site is primarily determinedtrading volume and number of users. By all key metrics, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world is Binance. Binance is also the most popular crypto exchange in Russia and the CIS, since it has the largest cash turnover and supports transfers in rubles from bank cardsVisa / MasterCardand payment systemsQIWI, Advcash, Payeer.

Especially for beginners, we have prepared a detailed guide: How to buy bitcoin on a crypto exchange for rubles?

Rating of cryptocurrency exchanges:

#	Exchange:	Website:	Rating:
1	Binance (Editor's Choice)	https://binance.com	9.7
2	Huobi	https://huobi.com	7.4
3	Exmo	https://exmo.me	6.9
4	OKEx	https://okex.com	6.5
5	Bybit	https://bybit.com	6.3

The criteria by which the rating is set in our rating of crypto-exchanges:

• Work reliability— stability of access to all functions of the platform, including uninterrupted trading, deposits and withdrawals of funds, as well as the duration of the market and daily trading volume.
• Commissions– the amount of commission for trading operations within the platform and withdrawal of assets.
• Additional features and services— futures, options, staking, NFT marketplace.
• Feedback and support– we analyze user reviews and the quality of technical support.
• Convenience of the interface– we evaluate the functionality and intuitiveness of the interface, possible errors and failures when working with the exchange.
• final grade– the average number of points for all indicators determines the place in the ranking.

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