Russia Sets a Timeline for New Crypto Law

By Kapil Gauhar

The Russian parliament has finally set a timeline for the 2nd reading of its much-awaited package of cryptocurrency, crowdfunding and blockchain-related bills.

According to Interfax, the State Duma’s financial market committee chairman, Anatoly Aksakov has confirmed that the bills will be read in “March or early April” – nearly a full calendar year after the bills cleared their first reading in the house.

Aksakov had previously stated that the Duma would prioritize the blockchain-related bills as soon as the spring began but now admits that a February reading for the bills looks almost impossible.

Readers will remember that the Duma has dependably pushed back the bills’ second reading several times since they were first to read in the house.

The committee chairman said that he hoped two out of three bills would be ready for President Vladimir Putin’s approval in mid-march, but that the 3rd would likely need to wait until April.

In case the bills are passed as per the Aksakov’s timeline, he obliges that they will come into force on October 1, 2019.

And probably anticipating a rocky legal road ahead for the cryptocurrency and blockchain-related legal industry, the Duma has also launched a course for lawyers wishing to specialize in fintech as well as crypto-related matters.

As per Delovaya Tribuna, the duma has made the team with a major Moscow-based university and two IT law firms for providing a training platform for lawyers. However, the program organizers state that participants from across Russia have signed up, and lawyers from elsewhere in the CIS.

The co-founder of the programmer conceded, as per the same media outlet –

“There is currently no specific [blockchain and cryptocurrency] legislation in Russia, but different regulatory bodies have different stances [on the matter].”