Sergei Mendeleev: Foreign exchanges will almost certainly be blocked

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Opinion

The State Duma is going to adopt amendments to the law on digital assets in the first reading in December, which effectively prohibit the free circulation of cryptocurrency in Russia.

The Duma Committee on the Financial Market on Friday, November 25, finishes accepting reviews, proposals and comments to the
the bill.Executive Director of Indefi Bank Sergei Mendeleev believes that in its current form, the “Aksakov amendments*” will lead to a complete restriction of access to crypto exchanges and exchangers from within Russia.

— Why do you think it was necessary to adopt amendments to the law “On Digital Assets” right now and in exactly this form?

— It’s hard for me to say why exactlyNow. This looks all the more strange given the fact that literally on the eve of the introduction of the law on a complete ban on public circulation of crypto, people whose signatures are on the project spoke about the need to expand the domestic market. And immediately after the introduction, the neighboring Duma committee came up with an initiative to create a Russian crypto exchange - which, obviously, will be impossible if the “Aksakov amendments” are adopted in their current form.

— What exactly threatens Russian exchanges, any trading platforms and crypto exchangers if the law is adopted? What threatens Russian clients of foreign sites?

— Russian exchanges and exchangersThey will simply, for obvious reasons, cease to exist. Even before the next logical step is taken—the introduction of criminal liability for breaking the law. No one has repealed Article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for conducting illegal business activities. Foreign exchanges will most likely simply be blocked by Roskomnadzor in the Russian segment of the Internet. But, taking into account the fact that now, due to the authorities’ thoughtless policy of blocking everything, VPN is on every housewife’s phone, I think blocking will not have any impact on users at all

— What can duty lead to?miners to report to the Federal Tax Service? How exactly should we understand the wording about providing the Central Bank with a “unique sequence of symbols”? What kind of tax will miners have to pay?

— I think it’s better to ask these questions yourselfto deputies. Despite my legal education and fairly deep knowledge of the crypto industry, I don’t know what lies behind these formulations. It is quite obvious that the authors have no idea how mining works, much less a mining pool. How the Federal Tax Service will sort all this out, I can’t even imagine. Especially in the absence of amendments to the Tax Code. Trivial: will the mined product be subject to production VAT?.. How will the cost of imported equipment, duties, electricity be taken into account? At what rates will income tax be calculated? And so on.

— What it is and how it will be applied“experimental legal field”? How do you think a specially authorized government agency to control mining will work? What other regulations should we expect?

— On these questions will be possiblerespond after the pilot bill appears. So far, it has just been announced, but I don’t know a single specialist from the field of crypt who would have taken at least some part in the development of the bill - which does not give hope for a successful outcome.

— Are you expecting a mass emigration of miners and cryptocurrency traders if the State Duma and the Federation Council are adopted, and the president signs the amendments in their current form?

— No, I’m not waiting.Everyone who wanted to have left long ago. The rest will simply leave the gray zone for the black zone—and that’s it. We have already gone through regulation through a ban with casinos. So what, they started playing less? No, everything just went to the underground katran stores and the Internet. I personally know a bunch of people who play poker in underground casinos in Moscow. It will be exactly the same with crypto. Mining farms will be disguised as data centers, and exchangers will move to closed telegram groups. Income will only grow, so why leave such raspberries?

*Chairman of the State Duma CommitteeAccording to the financial market, Anatoly Aksakov is the headliner of changes to the current law on digital assets. The day after the amendments were introduced in parliament, the deputy directly said that a complete ban on the circulation of cryptocurrency should occur in the country from February 1.