A new version of the law on mining has appeared in Russia.

A new draft law on mining has been introduced in the State Duma. The previous version, introduced by deputies in late April 2022, has been withdrawn. The bill aims to regulate relations related to the issuance and generation of digital currency, according to the explanatory note, according to RBC Crypto.

Deputies claim that, according to expert estimates, Russian citizens have opened over 12 million cryptocurrency wallets, with the volume of funds in these wallets amounting to approximately 10 trillion rubles. Furthermore, Russia is among the world leaders in terms of mining capacity.

“The lack of regulation in this industry means that all transactions involving digital currencies, as well as their issuance, take place in a 'gray' zone. Under these circumstances, citizens often face fraud and lack the tools to protect their rights and interests,” the deputies explained.

The draft law defines mining as “the issuance or generation of digital currency in the Russian Federation, i.e., activity using objects of the Russian information infrastructure, namely: domain names and network addresses located in the Russian national domain zone, or information systems whose technical means are located on the territory of the Russian Federation, or software and hardware systems located on the territory of the Russian Federation, or user equipment located on the territory of the Russian Federation, the result of which is the creation of digital currency, in particular, the maintenance of a distributed registry and the generation of digital currencies and their blocks, and the validation of transactions in the registry.”

Requirements for individuals also remain unchanged: they are only allowed to engage in mining after registering as an individual entrepreneur or self-employed person if the electricity they consume exceeds the limits set by the Russian government.

It is proposed to tax mining operators “in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation on taxes and fees.” They will be exempt from liability for the “clean” source of their clients' funds, meaning operators will not be required to check their clients for money laundering and terrorist financing.

The new version of the bill eliminated provisions regarding the registry of mining participants and the amnesty clause that the authors of the previous version of the law proposed to introduce for a year for miners registered in the registry.

Previously, it was proposed to allow them to avoid customs clearance for mining equipment imported before the law was passed for one year, to avoid filing tax returns on income from cryptocurrency mining received before the law was passed, and to avoid paying value-added tax on transactions carried out for the purpose of mining before the law came into force.