Russia eases its crypto laws; however, Russian citizens can still go to prison to comply with the rules and regulations.
Citizens from Russia could be imprisoned for up to three years if they didn’t declare to the tax authorities their crypto holdings of 45M rubles ($583,650) or higher.
According to earlier reports, a previous draft bill initially put the amount much lower – 100,000 – for some probable severe jail time.
However, the updated proposed law is still stern: residents from Russia can face big trouble, including six months in prison if they are unsuccessful in declaring crypto holdings worth 15M rubles ($195,000).
Another potential punishment for those who won’t comply is forced labor, and hefty fines will be dished out from those who won’t declare smaller amounts of crypto they hold.
Yesterday, Russia’s Ministry of Finance announced that the updated bill was drafted in a proposition to challenge money laundering. “Compliance with these recommendations will reduce the number of transactions related to money laundering,” the bill stated.
By January 2021, the new law would come into place.
Russia has been giving decentralized cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum a tough time.
Earlier this year, a bill has been declared to legally hold crypto – but not honestly spend it on anything.
However, the country is increasingly enthusiastic about centralized, state-run digital assets. The head of Russia’s central bank stated two weeks ago that a pilot version of a digital ruble could be ready by 2021.
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