Russia

Recently, the adoption of Russia’s major crypto law known as “On Digital Financial Assets” got finalized. Nevertheless, according to reports, Anatoly Askakov, the chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on financial markets, said that the bill wouldn’t get adopted before the end of spring of 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Askakov claimed that the previous delays in the bill’s adoption occurred because of the disagreement on the new asset type between local authorities. He highlighted that the central…

The Russian government could soon create regulatory sandboxes for companies working on cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence and distributed ledgers. A Russian Federal Ministry has initiated legislation that would legalize crypto and its underlying blockchain technology within a particular regulatory jurisdiction. Local news reports say that the Ministry of Economic Development has assembled a draft law that will allow the testing of crypto and blockchain development within unique 'regulatory sandboxes.' A few days ago, the draft was introduced to the…

For around five years, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has been working on a digital coin. The central bank’s fiat reserve will back the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), and its value pegged to the Yuan value.  Although the government of China announced its plans to develop the digital yuan in 2014, Facebook’s announcement of the launch of Libra was the propelling factor. The central bank says that the digital coin is near completion but hasn’t given any prospective…

On February 17, Russian finance published a report noting that the Central Bank of Russia created new guidelines to curb suspicious crypto transactions.  According to these new rules, all crypto transactions are deemed as a potential money laundering risk. This new set of rules, which comes to update directive 375-P, notes some possible signals that will prove some suspicious money laundering associated activities. This update comes long after the 2012 release of the initial set of rules.  These new rules…

Bitcoin is a revolutionary concept that will forever change how we understand and deal with finances. Since its release in 2009, the best-known cryptocurrency has taken the world by storm. It delivers an alternative to fiat money, quicker bank transfers, and countless possibilities of development for blockchain-based digital assets. Many see Bitcoin as the next best thing since the invention of the internet. Like the world wide web, its influence might surpass the financial system's borders and shape geopolitical issues.…