Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko has approved a road map for regulating cryptocurrencies. The document was adopted for the period until the end of 2022.

The road map entails the regulation of cryptocurrencies, customer identification, liability for violations and the possible localization of crypto platforms in the Russian Federation. The road map does not envisage banning cryptocurrencies.

The document includes the following proposals:

• to work out “the attributes and functionality of a compliance control system for the activities of organizers, operators and clients of P2P platforms (for transactions between individuals) and other systems, including virtual asset service providers” by May 2022;
• to finalize the provisions of the “regulatory-restrictive regime” for the activities of virtual asset service providers, determine the status of market participants and the rules for their procedures;
• to develop mechanisms for registration and reporting of organizations through which virtual assets circulate in Russia by December;
• determine responsibility for crimes using cryptocurrencies;
• to create a mechanism for verifying the accuracy of the provided information on the ownership of digital currencies;
• to finalize the draft law on informing about the facts of ownership of digital currencies and transactions with them;
• to introduce administrative liability for illegal circulation of digital financial assets and violation of the rules for transactions with them;
• to determine the procedure for identifying clients of digital currency exchange operators.

The proposals included in the road map were supported by a number of agencies, including the Ministry of Digital Development and the Ministry of Economic Development. The Central Bank did not support these proposals. Previously, the regulator advocated a ban on the circulation of cryptocurrency in Russia. An RBC source close to the interdepartmental working group that developed the document claimed that “a complete ban is impossible and will entail turning to the shadow markets”.

Original (in Russian)