Such an order was given by the speaker of the Duma Vyacheslav Volodin. The draft law on the regulation of the circulation of digital assets was developed by the LDPR faction
State Duma Chairman Viacheslav Volodin instructed to create a working group that will discuss the issue of legalizing cryptocurrency mining in Russia. The speaker of the State Duma gave such an order in response to the proposal of Andrei Lugovoy, First Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Security and Anti-Corruption, to legalize the extraction of digital assets. Lugovoi also said that the LDPR faction had prepared a corresponding bill.
“Due to the lack of regulation of the turnover of cryptocurrency, law enforcement agencies generally fall into a dead end, since they cannot establish signs of a crime in the activities of individuals and make the necessary procedural decisions,” Lugovoi said.
The deputy added that annually miners "are enriched by $ 2 billion at the expense of the population and do not pay taxes at the same time."
On November 8, it became known that the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Energy supported the idea of equating mining with entrepreneurial activity. In September, Anatoly Aksakov, head of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market, suggested equating the mining of cryptocurrencies with entrepreneurship. Later, the initiative was supported by the governor of the Irkutsk region Igor Kobzev. Russian oilmen also proposed to start mining cryptocurrencies in the fields.
In mid-October, it became known that Russia took the third place in the world in bitcoin mining. The country's share in the total computing power of miners reached 11% in August, up from 6.8% in April.
In January 2021, the law "On digital financial assets" came into force. The document defines cryptocurrency, but prohibits its use in Russia to pay for goods and services.