Law vs law: что надо делать с регулированием криптовалют в России – Bits Media

The opinion of IT-Jourist Vladimir Popov (aka menaskop) On the position of state bodies of the Russian Federation in 2014-2023 years, possible ways and prospects for the development of cryptocurrencies, mining, blockchain, other web3 technologies in 2023-2030 and further.

Context

I'll start with the context, namely from references to work, which give and general, and a detailed idea of the evolution of views on crypto assets and their legal status in Russia:

2013 (In edits 2014);
2014 (by writing of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and practice);
2017 (cm. Also on the forum bits.media);
2018: (The paradox of cryptonologists);
2019: (The largest selection by that time).

In addition, you can study Full archive Bits.media on request “right status of cryptocurrencies in Russia” and similar to it, And now - we go to the main thing.

Be the first

Always wins or first, Or the best. Sometimes these categories are mixed: Facebook was not the first, But he became the best; Western Union translations were the first and still remain.

The same applies to states: You can be an innovator, an early follower or enter any majority. The Russian Federation had a chance of championship and a complete priority of legal crypt 2011 by 2013 the years. Why? Here are just a few factors.

Law No. 161 "On the National Payment System" was adopted, where it was quite possible to fit bitcoin and other currencies, But lawmakers appreciated the market as insignificant, And from that moment the lag began.

Mining in the Russian Federation before 2013 the year was not just in the leaders, And in the first place: And with the birth of Asic-Mining, this vector could be developed. But in addition to the damage that appeared later in the form of a notification of the imported equipment, nothing was done: draft law on mining and in 2023 year (Once again?) Transferred "for autumn".

Crypto enthusiasts and crypto projects from the Russian Federation and the CIS was (And there is) quite a few, and if expanded on a Russian -speaking segment, then even more. Founders Waves, 1inch, Rarible, Curve, Ethereum, Chronobank, Chainlink, Near, Avrora, The Power and many others - immigrants from this region, but, If you look at the developers, then everything will become completely obvious. But - they all do not work in the Russian.

Finally, At that time, bitcoin as a network and bitcoin as a coin have already passed the first tests: This is the closure of Silk Road, and approaching collapse mt.gox, and migration of money due to the crisis in Cyprus, And much more. That is, nothing prevented the living stress test of the system. But instead, they began not to pay attention to her, what, undoubtedly, good and correct from the perspective of me as a crypto enthusiast, But categorically not true from the position of a lawyer.

You can sprinkle your head as much as possible, But let's try to figure it out: but how could it be and how it could be, if a suddenly, by incredible coincidence, The Russian Federation will evaluate the prospects of the blockchain, cryptocurrency, Web 3.0 In general, he will be engaged in attracting projects and experts/specialists from the cryptosphere directly Now.

Russian Federation vs RF

Despite, that the legal system of Russia is customary to criticize, It has rational grains and quite working details of the mechanism. If we are talking about the legal aspect as such, then first of all - this is arbitration. Court for legal entities and entrepreneurs.

Here are a few things, in which logic is also traced, and a real connection with reality and the possibility for an increase in the degree of understanding of crypto acts and their status:

Decree of the ninth arbitration court of the city of Moscow (Hereinafter - links to analysis on bits.media, since there are already direct references to legally significant documents).

The Arbitration Court of the Omsk Region recognized a legitimate transaction for the sale of oil products through blockchain.

There are others.

But the main thing is not at all in that. The reason for writing this material was the decision of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, where the court calculated the conversion of bitcoins into rubles laundering. And it looks extremely strange, taking into account that, what:

There is a law on the Tsf, Where (eg, In articles 1 and 14) It is said, that "organization of release and (or) release, The organization of circulation of digital currency in the Russian Federation is regulated in accordance with federal laws ", —But there are still no laws. Taking into account the creation of the expert council at the State Duma in 2017 six years have passed. Since the adoption of the law - three years. And since the first letter of cryptocurrencies dedicated to the issue of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation - for nine years. The deadlines in any case are sufficient to formalize the requirements. But instead, the most important authority (which, Let me remind you, since it is extremely significant, merged with the highest arbitration court just in the same 2014 year) It is contrary to the norms and makes a solution so, as if there are no federal laws in the Russian Federation, In addition to the Federal Law of the Russian Federation No. 115 “On the opposition of legalization…».

There is a completely correct judicial practice regarding mining, acquisition of cryptocurrencies, joint participation in projects and ad, But its generalization as a single document still does not exist. Although research on this topic, Including scientific, - Enough. This ultimately leads to unlawful decisions against miners, and also in no way protects the interests of retail crypto -investors (It is more correct to call them counterbugs).

Similar logic, like the Supreme Court, adhere to the RKN, Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Finance and others. It looks especially incorrect in terms of taxes.

There is no strictly formalized and unified system for accounting for crypto assets.

At the same time, the Ministry of Finance, and the Federal Tax Service constantly insist on paying taxes.

In the end, this leads to that, that taxes in most cases pay only large and medium miners (On a common basis), And the rest of the groups migrate to the cryptocurrency and/or other jurisdictions.

As a result, we get:

A long and bureaucratically tortured process of creating a legislative framework on cryptocurrencies and tokens, what does the law on digital assets include?, changes to the Civil Code and so on - do not provide legal certainty to investors, neither entrepreneurs, not even ordinary citizens, those wishing to purchase crypto assets on the free market.

Constant war of regulators: The position of the Ministry of Finance does not coincide with the position of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the position of the Ministry of Economic Development contradicts both of these, law enforcement point of view dominates, although it does not have clearly expressed theses, and legislators (State Duma of the Russian Federation first of all) and are not at all interested in fulfilling their direct responsibilities.

And most importantly, the outflow of funds from the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation: like those, that could be in bank deposits, So are those, that would go towards paying taxes.

What could and should have been done? What else is possible?? I'll try to look at a number of telling examples.

RF vs Switzerland: 2014

Singapore could be listed at various times in this paragraph, Estonia, UAE and other countries, but Switzerland is ideal in many ways:

Right here was once created by the Ethereum Foundation, and behind it - many other top crypto projects, conducting ICO/IEO/IDO/etc.

Right here one of the first legal services for exchanging crypto assets for fiat funds appeared (and vice versa).

Right here many bank accounts were opened, which received profits from ICO/IEO/IDO/etc of various Web3 startups.

All, what did it take:

A clear position of FINMA - the local financial regulator.

Friendly law in Liechtenstein and its own full-fledged regulatory framework.

And most importantly - transparent, albeit far from simple, rules, due diligence and KYC according to FATF standards.

Thanks to this, already in 2017 year, about ⅓ of all ICO projects with company registration settled on Switzerland, and the country earned at least 350-400 Million dollars. In six years the numbers have increased significantly. The budget of the Russian Federation, at best, was replenished from the ICO of the Waves blockchain, maybe RMC, but most of the projects with Russian roots emigrated from the Russian Federation due to:

Presence not clear (not transparent) and, quicker, negative position of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.

Lack of a friendly regulatory framework.

Lack of specific regulatory rules for different sectors of the crypto-economy.

Losses taking into account various factors and industries (ICO, DeFi segment, mining and the like) can range from hundreds of millions to several billions of dollars, that even with a course in 60-85 rubles per dollar looks quite respectable.

What Russia should inherit from Switzerland?

Transparency of legislation;

Clear gradations of assets and other entities (eg, division by Payment ICO, Utility ICO, Asset ICO).

Developed regional legislation (there are cantons, in the Russian Federation - subjects of the Federation).

Customized approach to major players (like Tezos, Ethereum, etc).

Differentiated tax base (capital gains tax; income tax; VAT; etc).

Work with DAO (according to the principle of economic affiliation).

And most importantly - openness to innovation, what does it mean: clear principles and approaches must be laid out on paper, and fill in the details as the play progresses.

For those, who wants more detail, I recommend studying the position of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation from 2014 year and compare with Swiss practice from the same year.

RF vs Japan: 2016

If the Russian Federation could resolve all the troubles with the crypto market back in 2011 year, when the law “On the National Payment System” was adopted, that is, a year before the first report on Bitcoin in the USA, then, as a result, the first legal act, revealing, albeit in a very reduced form, legal status of cryptocurrencies (BTC and ETH come first), became the law of Japan.

And although the press often defines the status of BTC in Japan as a “means of payment,” this is not entirely true.. Main, The Japanese can quite legally use and trade cryptocurrency. Besides, in 2022 year, the stablecoin market also joined in.

What did it give in the end?? Let's look at the numbers and facts - they speak for themselves:

Already in 2018 year there were more crypto traders in this jurisdiction 3 500 000 Human, and in 2022 year - over 7 700 000 (it's more, than the population of St. Petersburg).

Companies like Circle have become welcome guests.

IN 2021 the process of developing the DeFi segment began, which the, Let me remind you, achieved more than $230 billion capitalization.

In short, despite the negativity present (primarily hacks and corresponding losses for crypto investors), Japan's economy has been boosted by innovation, in contrast to the Russian economy.

What could Russia learn from Japan?? Here is a partial list:

Be innovator - everyone is trying to fill vacant positions, and at the same time they replenish the country’s budget. The rule works simply: if it's not there anywhere, and you have - they come to you first.

Describe clearly status Cryptoactives, and then move on to ICO, DeFi, NFT, etc.

Choose niches regulation and detail them constantly.

Now let’s try to consider another and much more striking example.

RF vs Canada: 2017

Mining - golden rivers of the Russian Federation, which they have been trying to turn into streams for more than ten years now.

Canada is similar to Russia in climate, territory (Canada is the second largest in area in the world), many other objective parameters. Therefore it is quite logical, that after the great move from China, miners ended up here.

In turn, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) clarified:

Miners are required to include income in their declarations.

Базово — майнинг похож на бартер.

Все.

Of course, к этим трем тезисам есть масса деталей и так далее, но с ними нет проблем, так как основа формализована. В итоге одна только Hut 8 Mining за 2021 год увеличила свои показатели на 327%.

При этом никаких жестких противоречий между позицией, Let's say, CRA и CSA (канадский регулятор ценных бумаг) No, что добавляет стабильности. И вот что можно и нужно унаследовать РФ у Канады:

Формализовать все относительно промышленного майнинга.

Забыть при этом про домашний (to 15 Квт).

И предоставить льготный период на два-три года для всех майнеров.

Последний пункт важен, так как РФ проигрывала гонку трижды: in 2014, 2017, 2021 years. И для восстановления теперь требуется куда больше сил, времени и желания, нежели три-пять-девять лет назад.

Не. Нужные советы

В эту главу поместил рассуждения, основанные на собственной практике и исследованиях (from 2012 of the year), which, как видятся, могут способствовать развитию крипто-рынка РФ:

Необходимо превентивное регулирование отраслей, причем позитивное, а не негативное (запретительное). Прямо сейчас это могут быть: but) рынок программируемых активов; б) ZKP-решения; in) NFT & DeFi, включая в первую очередь — рынок крипто-деривативов и так далее.

Исключение из речи любых официальных лиц упоминаний о каких-либо табу со стороны криптоактивов, кроме тех что и так очевидны (по тому же ФЗ РФ №115), так как отрицательная риторика при плохом регулировании — катализатор исхода, а не прихода.

Создание оффшорных зон для пилотных проектов в сфере майнинга, трейдинга (DEXs/AMMs/CEXs/etc), стейкинга и других доходных направлений с периодом не менее трех-пяти лет, а лучше десяти: оборотный капитал, даже не облагаемый напрямую налогами, дает экономике положительный толчок. Коротко схема выглядит так: майнер-компания заработала на майнинге, оплатила зарплаты, выдала дивиденды учредителям, все заплатили НДФЛ и пошли тратить средства, оплачивая НДС и другие «включенные налоги», а также стали покупать больше, пополняя бюджеты: местные, региональные и федеральный.

Базовые отрасли для РФ: mining, классические DeFi и доступные Cefi, NFT-арт (потому как такого количества креатива, как в странах СНГ, мало где можно найти по миру).

Если разделить все это на периоды (2023-2025, 2025-2030, 2030-2050) и сосредоточиться на создании свободного криптопространства, то в момент разработки CBDC по всему миру можно получить экономическую, правовую и, что важно, технологически развитую зону для многих проектов. В том числе при самом негативном сценарии, когда РФ остается под санкциями, так как в этой зоне находится немало других государств, включая технологические, как Иран.

Despite, что план выглядит футуристично, он вполне достижим и реален, но требует системного и взвешенного подхода, а не заявлений ad hoc, которые лишь усугубляют ситуацию.

Выводы и итоги

Мне как криптоэнтузиасту достаточно криптофшора: это надежно, безопасно, не зависит от прихотей юрисдикций и находится на передовой технического и культурного прогресса.

Но как юристу мне понятно, что всегда будут граждане, entrepreneurs, Company, которые хотят найти компромисс с государством. И эта группа стала в период санкций больше, а не меньше. And most importantly, что экономика 2020-2030-х, которая не хочет соприкасаться с криптомиром, — это не цифровая экономика. А нецифровая экономика в оцифрованном мире — это экономика отсталая.

Поэтому описанные сценарии, а равно и опыт других государств и корпораций, — то, что подлежит внедрению здесь и сейчас. Иначе РФ отстанет уже к 2025 year on 25 years old, And to 2030 — на 100: от тех государств, которые пойдут путем имплементации с Web3-сферой.

Стадии в РФ могут быть следующими:

2023-2025 — акцент на майнинге: понятных, простых правилах для него и свободных экономических зонах (Сибирь и Дальний Восток в приоритете).
2025-2030 — компиляция элементов DeFi & CeFi и даже Refi.
2030-2050 — работа над интеграцией мировых компьютеров (будет то Ethereum, dFinity или что-то еще — не так значимо), распределенными ОС, децентрализованными хранилищами и прочими элементами.

В итоге РФ получит то, о чем так часто заявляется, но редко делается:

Независимость от «долларизации экономики».

Новые рабочие места.

Международное признание.

Деньги в бюджеты всех уровней.

И это — минимум. На этом у меня все и

to!