Russia wants a cut of bitcoin miners’ profits as the country’s hashrate grows.
Lawmakers have proposed on November 11 to legalize the industry and created a working group to discuss the issue.
Although mining isn’t illegal there, regulatory clarity still lacks and prevents government agencies from capitalizing.
The State Duma, one of the chambers of the Russian parliament and legislative authority, has proposed to legalize bitcoin mining as the country becomes a prominent nation in the industry. The proposal was made by the first deputy chairman of the committee on security and anti-corruption, Andrey Lugovoi, at a plenary session on November 11.
“We have prepared a bill and we will introduce it without fail,” he said.
Lugovoi presented the proposal on the basis that miners currently profit over $2 billion per year but don’t share gains with the state due to the lack of regulatory clarity around taxation for the industry. In addition, the deputy said that clear legislation could help law enforcement.
