Russia’s Duma Committee on Financial Markets is considering the adoption of a mandatory identification process for users of digital assets, local news service Izvestia reports on March 7. The committee chairman, Anatoly Aksakov, revealed that the authority is planning to amend Russia’s crypto regulation, aiming to establish a special identification process for users of digital financial assets, including cryptocurrencies. According to the planned amendment, dealing with crypto by unidentified users will become illegal, Aksakov said. The chairman stressed that the new initiative is concurrent with the existing legislation against money laundering, with violation penalties reaching up to 15 years of …

Russia’s Commissioner for Human Rights has asked the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to help extradite the former operator of now-defunct crypto exchange BTC-e, Alexander Vinnik, from Greece to Russia. The news was reported by Russian news outlet TASS on March 5. At a meeting between commissioners Tatyana Moskalkova and Michelle Bachelet on March 5, Moskalkova reportedly noted that Vinnik has been in critical condition because of the hunger strike he started in November, 2018. Moskalkova also pointed out that Vinnik’s wife is seriously ill and is on the brink of death. The ombudswoman said: "Given the extraordinary …

Russia’s parliament has adopted in the second reading the bill “On Digital Financial Assets,” aimed at formulating national cryptocurrency legislation, according to a statement published on the parliament’s website on Tuesday, March 5. The State Duma, Russia’s parliament, has adopted amendments to the Civil Code of the Russian Federation on digital rights, which provides a regulatory framework in the field of the digital economy. The bill, “On Digital Financial Assets” — approved in a first reading by the State Duma back in May — has given rise to a lot of discussion within the Russian legal discourse. Today’s second reading …

The new set of measures in respect to the development of “Russian offshores” will affect digital assets, major Russian news agency TASS reported on Mar. 1. The Russian Ministry of Economic Development is reportedly working on the third set of measures for the development of so called “Russian offshores” — places where companies can legitimately be exempt from paying taxes or follow relaxed regulations, — which will include a special regulation of digital assets and shipping. Deputy Minister of Economic Development of Russia, Ilya Torosov reportedly told TASS that the special regulation of digital assets encompasses cryptocurrencies. “It is clear …

Russia’s national pension fund is settling an agreement with Russian Railways to use blockchain for tracking transport passengers that qualify for discounted services, Moscow-based news agency Rambler News Service (RNS) reports on March 1. Anton Drozdov, the head of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, revealed that the state-owned fund is expected to close the deal with Russian Railways, a government owned freight and passenger train services company, sometime in 2019. The new blockchain project intends to bring transparency to a system for monitoring users of discounted transport services, eliminating forgery and fraud, Drozdov explained while speaking in an …

The city council of Moscow, Russia’s capital city, has submitted a bill to use blockchain technology for an electronic voting system, major Russian news agency Tass reported on Tuesday, Feb. 26. The Moscow City Duma, a local parliament of the Russian capital city, plans to protect the process and results of electronic voting in the upcoming elections through the use of blockchain technology. The news was announced by one of the authors of the relevant bill, the deputy of ruling party United Russia Dmitry Vyatkin. Vyatkin underlined that the technology would allow for the separate storage of the personal data …

Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued another deadline for the government to adopt regulations for the digital assets industry, according to instructions for the Federal Assembly. The document was published on the official website of the President of Russia, Kremlin.ru, on Feb. 27. According to the document, Pres. Putin has ordered the government to enforce crypto-related regulation by July 1, 2019. The President has required the Council of the Federation of Russia and the lower house the Federal Assembly of Russia (Russian State Duma) to adopt the regulation during the spring session of 2019. Specifically, the document requires the adoption …

The Russian Ministry of Transport is reportedly planning to trial blockchain shipping solution TradeLens developed by IBM and Maersk, Russian financial media Kommersant reported on Tuesday, Feb. 26 Kommersant received a copy of an official letter addressed to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Maxim Akimov, who is oversees transport policy. According to the document, the Ministry of Transport and its subsidiary will sign a memorandum of understanding with Maersk to launch a pilot of TradeLens in Russia’s second largest port, the Big port of St. Petersburg. As per the letter, the officials expect TradeLens to reduce paperwork by using smart contracts …

The Russian Supreme Court has included the illicit use of cryptocurrencies in the list of criminal offences related to money laundering, local legal news site Pravo reported on Tuesday, Feb. 26. The court has introduced new amendments to the anti-money laundering (AML) decree issued in July 2015. These clarifications relate to Russian criminal code articles dedicated to the legalization of property acquired via criminal means. According to Alexander Chervotkin, a judge who commented on the regulations, in the three years since the decree was signed, cryptocurrencies have became widely used by criminals. To prove that, the judge cited several cases …

Russia’s Commissioner for Human Rights Tatyana Moskalkova has asked Greek Justice Minister Michalis Kalogirou to extradite the alleged former operator of now-defunct crypto exchange BTC-e, Alexander Vinnik, to Russia. The news was reported by Russian news outlet TASS on Feb. 25. In a letter to Kalogirou, Moskalkova reportedly asked the Minister to extradite Vinnik to Russia following his deteriorating health and the institution of criminal proceedings against him in Russia. Last week, Moskalkova reportedly visited Vinnik in a Greek hospital, where she convinced Vinnik to end the hunger strike he had started in November, 2018. The letter reportedly reads: “I …

The Russian State Duma (the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia) plans to review and adopt new cryptocurrency regulation in March. The former Energy Minister Igor Yusufov is also proposing an oil-backed crypto, Russian financial outlet Rambler reported on Feb. 21. Furthermore, Rambler reports that the head of the Energia investment-oriented corporation, former Energy Minister Igor Yusufov, also has tangible prospects for proposing an oil-backed cryptocurrency. The construction of the project’s roadmap is reportedly almost at the final stage. In an interview with Rambler, Yusufov reportedly said that the introduction of a crypto settlement system on the energy …

The Moscow-based blockchain innovation cluster needs a mechanism for assessing intellectual property, says the founder of blockchain platform Universa.io, Alexander Borodich. Borodich’s statements were reported by Russian news agency TASS on Feb. 15. The plans to launch a blockchain-based city innovation cluster by summer 2019 were initially announced by the Moscow municipal government earlier in February. The upcoming platform for the city’s IT innovation cluster will purportedly bring together various tech and business entities and enable participants to find potential partners, as well as learn about their products and equipment. Per Borodich, the hypothetical mechanism for evaluating intellectual property will …