The first cryptocurrency, bitcoin, saw the world more than ten years ago, but the legal status of "new money" still raises many questions: what transactions are allowed, how to pay taxes? Prepared answers to frequently asked questions.
Is there such a thing as "cryptocurrency" in Russian legislation?
Yes, according to Russian legislation, cryptocurrency is called "digital currency". The definition was approved by the Federal Law of July 31, 2020 No. 259-FZ "On digital financial assets, digital currency and on amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation" (hereinafter referred to as the Law), which entered into force on January 1, 2021. Bitcoin, Ethereum and other crypt fits well into the definition of a digital currency contained in paragraph 3 of Article 1 of the Law.
Is digital currency (cryptocurrency) actually digital financial assets?
No. Digital Financial Assets (DFA) The Law defines as tokens for the transfer of rights to shares, shares in companies and other similar rights. That is, CFA is not fungible tokens, unlike cryptocurrency. In addition, the CFA is created by special operators operating under Russian law, the CFA blockchain is not decentralized, it is completely controlled by the operator until the access lost by the user is restored.
Is it possible to officially buy and sell cryptocurrency in Russia?
It is possible to buy and sell cryptocurrency for rubles, but the rules for such operations have not yet been approved by law (paragraphs 3, 4 of Article 14 of the Law). It is possible that in the future, legislators will approve special exchange rules. For example, only through official exchange operators, as is done for transactions with digital financial assets - only an officially registered operator of the exchange of digital financial assets, an organization with an authorized capital of 50 million rubles or more, can become such an "exchanger".
The purchase and sale of cryptocurrency for rubles at the moment can be carried out as a normal purchase and sale of property on a contractual basis between the buyer and the seller. If additional requirements for these operations appear, they most likely will not come into effect retroactively, that is, they will not be punished for the operations already performed. However, pay attention to another current risk - banking control. The bank may consider transactions suspicious within the framework of the anti-money laundering law (Law No. 115-FZ) and block the account, as well as demand from you documentary confirmation of transactions, which are often difficult to submit in the case of cryptocurrency.
Due to the continuing legal uncertainty, as well as uncertainty regarding taxation (more on that below), it is better not to carry out transactions with cryptocurrency in the Russian jurisdiction for now.
You can buy something and sell for a crypt?
The law prohibits the exchange of cryptocurrency for goods, works, services. And even disseminate information about such a possibility (paragraph 7 of Article 14 of the Law). The use of cryptocurrency as a means of payment was banned in Russia, as it threatens the national monetary system.
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