Russia

The Russian authorities are still exploring ways to regulate cryptocurrency transactions before making a draft of the new law for digital currency circulation. The latest proposal from the Russian Ministry of Finance states that digital currencies could be recognized as a commodity with the appropriate taxes and face obligatory customer identification.

Blockchain lottery TrueFlip has announced on June 2nd that the project’s website was listed as a website prohibited in the Russian Federation. The project has opted to comply with the blocking, however, they deem it erroneous.

The VP of the Russian Central Bank, Olga Skorobogatova, stated at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2017 that the Bank of Russia is already working on the project of a national digital currency.

The Bitcoin price has already surpassed its historical maximum and confidently goes higher.

The Ministry of Communications and Mass Media of Russia expects that Blockchain technology and distributed ledger technologies will be legalized and regulatory accepted in 2019.

Blockchain is an inherently democratising technology, so it’s not surprising to find it driving economic activity at the grassroots in Russia and around the world.

The Russian Deputy Finance Minister, Alexey Moiseev, has said that authorities hope to recognize bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in Russia in 2018.

R3 is not yet ready to accept Russian banks as members of the Blockchain consortium. The largest bank in Russia, Sberbank, wanted to join the R3 Blockchain consortium, however, R3 has made it clear that this application would be rejected due to sanctions.

The People's Cooperative in St. Petersburg, Russia, plans to launch an ICO to finance food factory and stores.