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International News Title: Russia Backpedals On Bitcoin - Unveils Plan To Ban Cryptocurrency Sales To "Ordinary People" Russia Backpedals On Bitcoin - Unveils Plan To Ban Cryptocurrency Sales To "Ordinary People" by Tyler Durden After local Russian media reported earlier this year that the Russian Parliament could legalize bitcoin as soon as 2018, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev this week signaled that authorities might instead seek to restrict its use. During an interview with Russia 24, a state-owned news channel, Moiseev said that Russian authorities should treat cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, as sophisticated financial assets and restrict their use and trading to qualified investors only. Moiseev’s statement surprised members of Russia's digital currency community, who had been lead to believe that the Russian government was finally warming to digital currencies after years of skepticism. That belief was strengthened earlier this month when an aide to Vladimir Putin announced that he would seek to raise $100 million to build bitcoin mining infrastructure in Russia, with the goal of controlling as much as 30% of the bitcoin network’s hashpower.
“‘Cryptocurrency should be regulated as a financial asset,’ Vedomosti reported him saying. ‘There is a point of view that cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin is a financial pyramid. Investments [in] such are high-risk. This determines our approach to their regulation.’ As a regulated financial security, Moiseev said cryptocurrencies would be sold through stock exchanges under the supervision of the Federal Financial Monitoring Service of the Russian Federation, also known as Rosfinmonitoring, according to Bitcoin Magazine. Moiseev added that bitcoin is a "dangerous" investment, and that it's the government's duty to protect "ordinary people" from losing their shirts, according to CoinTelegraph.
“For ordinary people, there’s no way because these are very dangerous investments that could lead to loss of money.” According to Moiseev, Russia’s ministry of finance is discussing how to proceed with the central bank and the Moscow stock exchange. Moiseev added that it is necessary for cryptocurrencies to sell through the exchange “to provide judicial protection to participants in transactions.” Moiseev detailed that this approach to cryptocurrency regulation aims to protect the rights of buyers and sellers. “Now people do it at their own peril and risk, they have no judicial protection. This is our first task,” he was quoted by Vedomosti. His comments then turned to the subject of money laundering.
“Citing Western Europe and Russia in particular, Ria Novosti quoted him saying “the use of cryptocurrency for illegal operations has become much more frequent because the mechanisms for combating money-laundering are not yet fully applied in all countries to cryptocurrencies.” Finally, Moiseev said that the Russian government is uncomfortable with the anonymity provided by bitcoin.
“Moiseev also explained that it is necessary to sell bitcoins through the regulated stock exchange, so that the regulator will always know ‘who the seller is, who the buyer is, where these bitcoin accounts have moved.’” What's worse for bitcoiners is that Russia might be at the vanguard of a shift in how authorities view bitcoin. The SEC late last month declared that digital currencies, including bitcoin and the tokens issued during ICOs, should be treated as securities under the law. So far, the SEC's guidance has been vague. But the ease with which digital currencies could be used to finance illicit activities – regardless of whether they’re actually being used for that purpose – likely means that more government crackdowns are ahead. By requiring all local bitcoin exchanges to screen transactions for potential violations, China has found a way to pierce the anonymity surrounding digital-currency transactions. Don’t think it can't happen in the US. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest https://www.coindesk.com/russian-regulator-bitcoin-limited-qualified-investors/
Russian Regulator: Bitcoin Should Be Limited to 'Qualified Investors'
#2. To: nolu chan (#0) Sellers of bitcoin are at risk because while buyers may challenge bitcoin purchases after the fact with their CC providers, causing payments to sellers to be reversed, there is no way a seller can reciprocate and reverse a bitcoin transaction. This may be why transaction fees are so high with bitcoin sales (pushing 20% above spot). So for sellers it is risky, at least if it's not a face to face transaction involving cash for bitcoin. Bitcoin spot has risin dramatically, again, in recent weeks from around 3300 to 4700. Volitility does certainly add to risk, though bitcoin has not yet seen much pullback from that jump. I personally speculate that the addition of bitcoin to forex exchanges may be the force that has pushed prices up, as it has expanded the reach of bitcoin trading into the marketplace. It may also be that the legislation related to bitcoin, though restrictive, may have had the unintended effect of legitimizing bitcoin via acknowledgement of it as a force to be reckoned with. It's no surprise that governing authorities will not like decentralized cryptocurrencies and that they will do what they can to block it. But there is still the trump card that cryptocurrencies possess, and that's the ability to be transacted, between individual people, without need of any permission from any central authority, and with no practical means of tracking. I won't rehash the argument, nolu, as we've already done it, but I do not see any feasible method any government, or even all governments combined, can shut any decentralized currency down, or otherwise forcibly prohibit cryptocurrency transactions in any given geographical area.
#3. To: Pinguinite (#2)
It's no surprise that governing authorities will not like decentralized cryptocurrencies and that they will do what they can to block it. But there is still the trump card that cryptocurrencies possess, and that's the ability to be transacted, between individual people, without need of any permission from any central authority, and with no practical means of tracking. I won't rehash the argument, nolu, as we've already done it, but I do not see any feasible method any government, or even all governments combined, can shut any decentralized currency down, or otherwise forcibly prohibit cryptocurrency transactions in any given geographical area. No, there is no need to rehash the difference of opinion. Only time will tell whether the governments can succeed in their efforts to regulate or crush cryptocurrency. By demominating crypto-currency as a property or asset, and requiring that it be traded only by people on the stock exchange, Russia may catch speculators earning capital gains, and the trades would not be anonymous. An article I saw elsewhere about Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash raised the interesting point that as Bitcoin has less and less coins to mine, miners may move to Bitcoin Cash or another emerging cryptocurrency to maximize their return on investment. That may complicate things for the senior cryptocurrency.
#4. To: nolu chan (#0) (Edited) Do these frozen bozos still occasionally go blind from shitty homemade vodka? Not sophisticated at all.
No wonder their pretty women leave, go someplace warm, and get fat.
#5. To: Hank Rearden (#4) Do these frozen bozos still occasionally go blind from shitty homemade vodka? Not sophisticated at all. The U.S. has also acted to declare Bitcoin an asset rather than a currency. If you buy a Bitcoin for $1,000 and sell it for $2,000, you have a reportable and taxable capital gain. China is also moving to control cryptocurrency.
#6. To: nolu chan (#5) If you buy a Bitcoin for $1,000 and sell it for $2,000, you have a reportable and taxable capital gain. I'm sure people will rush to line up and pay that capital gains tax if they can get into the building crowded with all the people lined up to pay "use taxes" on out-of-state purchases. Fvck Big Stupid Government; it's all going to come to a head once the GOPussies try to get reelected.
#7. To: Hank Rearden (#6) (Edited) vck Big Stupid Government; it's all going to come to a head once the GOPussies try to get reelected. If it moves tax it why would liberals not be in favour of that
#8. To: Hank Rearden (#6) I'm sure people will rush to line up and pay that capital gains tax if they can get into the building crowded with all the people lined up to pay "use taxes" on out-of-state purchases. If the people do not pay capital gains on other investments, they can face a stiff penalty. Bitcoin is considered property and not a national currency.
Fvck Big Stupid Government Never underestimate the sheer power of stupid people in large numbers. Big Stupid Government has the power to tax and regulate, to make laws, and to take away your life, liberty, or property, with due process of course. Due process is whatever process is due. Big Stupid Government gets to write the laws saying what process is due. I'm not judging right or wrong, just what sheer power can do. These days Amazon is collecting state taxes.
#9. To: nolu chan (#8) These days Amazon is collecting state taxes. They do, which is why I buy almost every "Amazon" purchase through their Third-Party Marketplace. Even if shipped by Amazon anyway, from a few miles away in my own state, no sales tax. A 9% additional saving on every purchase is significant. I only pay the sales tax if it's clearly the best bottom-line price. I'll even pay a little more to a third party, or UPS, than cough up even more to government parasites.
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