Putin Supports Regulating Crypto Mining In Russia Instead of A Ban
President Vladimir Putin is leaning towards taxing and regulating crypto mining in Russia, contrary to the central bank’s proposal for a total ban on crypto mining and trading last week.
Reportedly, Putin supports a proposal by the government to tax and regulate crypto mining instead of imposing a complete ban. This suggests that Putin has a mindset to reject the central bank’s crypto ban proposal in the country.
The president would rather see a crypto proposal that restricts mining activities to regions with a surplus of electricity, according to the Bloomberg.
According to Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, Putin is looking into the government and the central bank’s differences in the crypto ban crisis.
Earlier Putin ordered the government and the central bank on a verdict to agree and come up with a structured decision to regulate crypto in Russia.
The president said:
“We also have certain competitive advantages here, especially in the so-called mining. I mean the surplus of electricity and well-trained personnel available in the country.”
Russia is the third-largest Bitcoin mining country based on its share of the Bitcoin hashrate, a unit of computational power on the network.
The U.S. has leading share of the Bitcoin hashrate globally, according to Cambridge University data as of end of August 2021.
China, which previously held the leading position, issued a blanket ban on cryptocurrency last year that forced larger mining operators to move to other countries and enabled American firms to take the lead.
Kazakhstan was ranked the second-largest Bitcoin mining nation in the the same Cambridge report; however, the situation may have changed over the last week, after its government temporarily banned mining amid an ongoing energy crisis.
If the latest report is true, Putin’s backing may advance regulations that will legitimize crypto mining industry in Russia. It can also strengthen the country’s global position in the mining sector, presently led by the U.S.
