Cryptocurrency regulation in Russia has yet again been given a final deadline as President Vladimir Putin has given instructions to the Federal Assembly to come up with a regulatory framework for the digital asset industry.

The Presidential Address posted on the Kremlin website specifically issued orders to Volodin Vyacheslav Viktorovich and Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich to draw up a working legal framework “aimed at the development of the digital economy, including determining the procedure for conducting civil law transactions in electronic form, as well as regulating digital financial assets and attracting financial resources using digital technologies”. The deadline was set at 1 July 2019.

Up until now, a crypto regulation draft had been in the works with several edits and criticism accompany the initial draft. With as much vagueness present from the onset, there still has not been a complete working draft for the government to enforce. A lobby group had also attempted to provide an alternative cryptocurrency legislation bill which it claimed will be more efficient, addressing the contradictions in the initial draft.

In 2018, tendencies had been drawn against Bitcoin. The chairman of the financial market committee in Duma Anatoly Aksakov had said:

“EARLIER WE HAD SOME THOUGHTS ON BITCOINS, ON THEIR INTEGRATION INTO OUR ECONOMIC SYSTEM. BUT AS WE DECIDED WE DON’T NEED THEM, THESE AMBIGUOUS BITCOINS.”

Moreover, early developments had included renaming cryptocurrencies to digital rights.

More so, Putin may have been pro-blockchain, suggesting so when he claimed Russia won’t be left behind in the blockchain race, but was certainly doubleminded about crypto such that he had at some point considered a state-backed currency dubbed the cryptoruble, however, the project was later shot down.

Further, there had been rumors that the country was planning a huge investment in Bitcoin, while this was later dismissed as rumors, economist Vladislav Ginko – who originally provided the speculations – stood by his initial claims.

In many parts of the world, cryptocurrency regulations remain important subjects yet have been in the gray areas, perhaps because of the nascent nature of the emerging asset class and its evolving markets.

Recently, India’s Supreme Court had ordered the financial regulatory watchdog to come up with a framework on cryptocurrency in order to proceed with the case involving the Reserve Bank of India and players within the cryptocurrency industry in the country who sought to reverse the bank’s decision on the ban of financial services from commercial banks to crypto-related ventures. Earlier this month, the government was reportedly seeking outside help in regards to formulating a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies.

In some parts of the United States, crypto regulatory frameworks have progressed positively. The US State of Wyoming recently passed a bill that allows cryptocurrency to be treated as financial assets under existing laws.

In Europe, a bill was passed in Luxembourg to facilitate the development of the blockchain industry as well as the digital asset economy in the country.