Last month Russia held two important events dedicated to cryptocurrencies and related technologies: A national forum organized by the government, and the biggest cryptocurrency conference in the country

The conference attracted a record-breaking number of visitors (around 1000 guests and speakers altogether). In the course of these events numerous governmental officials shared their views on the possibility of regulation and legalization of cryptocurrencies on the national level. According to the numerous statements of the speakers in charge, Russia should expect a federal law, regulating the role of cryptocurrencies in national economics, by the end of the year and it certainly won’t be prohibitive.

Last December, the president of the country Vladimir Putin decreed to develop a digital economy in the country and initiated the creation of a cross-disciplinary group to study the blockchain technologies and possible risks of their implementation.

Speaking at the national forum Pavel Livadny, head of Finance Monitoring Governmental Agency, highlighted that the governmental structure overcame the rejection phase and moved on to the constructive dialog. He added that cryptocurrencies have to be regulated, and only few countries want to ban their circulation

The question of legal status of cryptocurrency in the country is still raising many debates and misunderstandings. The last official document on the matter, an informational letter from the Federal Tax Service issued in the end of 2016, noted that cryptocurrencies are valuable. The very form of the notice was rather inspiring due to its recommendatory nature.

It appears that Russia came a long way from objecting to the new phenomenon to the first trials to understand it. There is also a chance that the government started seeing an opportunity in the ground-breaking crypto technology. The federal deputy Boris Titov, while speaking on the national forum, suggested to establish a “crypto valley” in Crimea, similar to the crypto valley in Switzerland.

Titov noted the potential of blockchain technology for government services, especially regarding the fight against corruption. The main risk, mentioned by most of the speakers, is the anonymity of transactions.

Despite the possible risks, according to Alexander Ivanov, the founder of the Russian blockchain platform Waves, the whole trend is already too big and now the government can only admit it.

This is just the beginning. Elina Sidorenko, head of the cross-disciplinary group and Professor of Law at Moscow Governmental Institute of International Affairs, said that the university is already developing a special educational program targeted to prepare lawyers for working in the cryptoworld. According to Sidorenko, the legal ecosystem is not ready for the era of smart-contracts”. By her suggestion, the country should start with raising professional lawyers who could handle the subject.

It is clear that the cryptocurency space is developing at an astonishing rate and things can go really fast. As soon as the first country has accepted cryptocurreny the rest of the world will most likely follow suit. the current cryptocurrency market capitilization is $55,028,997,030 , if a part of the economy of Russia would join it could easily go x3.

Would love to know where you think this is going.

source: https://cryptoinsider.com/russia-close-legalization-cryptocurrencies/