The Russian Ministry of Finance is developing “special legislation” that will allow mined cryptocurrencies to be exported for international trade.
Russia is considering exporting mined cryptocurrencies out of the country in a similar way to natural gas, local Russian news outlet RBC reported.
Speaking at a roundtable discussion on the future of digital finance, Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov said: “There is an option and a bill – to use the export of cryptocurrency as a product of mining activity”.
The initiative is part of a legislative effort that aims to recognise cryptocurrency mining as a formal industry, facilitating the use of cryptocurrencies in international trade.
Chebeskov added, “There is special legislation for the export of gas… using this example, we developed a concept, a project so that a miner could export the product of what he mined, that is, cryptocurrency as an export product.”
The proposed law was introduced in November 2022 and could be implemented as early as 2024.
While crypto transactions aren’t fully legal in Russia, the resource-rich nation is a key player in the Bitcoin mining sector. The latest data shows that Russia accounts for about 11.23% of the global Bitcoin hash rate, placing it as the third-largest Bitcoin mining country in the world.
Bitcoin mining stocks were as lucrative as Bitcoin itself throughout 2023
If implemented, Russia will be tapping into a lucrative global mining market. Bitcoin has had a stellar year in terms of price performance, but publicly listed Bitcoin stocks have performed even better.
At the end of Q3, 2023, Bitcoin had gained 80%, while mining stocks have yielded an average return of 149%.
Read more: Bitcoin mining stocks continue to outpace BTC with triple-digit gains
Some of the biggest gainers were Cipher Mining, Riot Platforms, Iris Energy and Marathon Digital.
Disclaimer: CryptoPlug does not recommend that any cryptocurrency should be bought, sold, or held by you. Do conduct your own due diligence and consult your financial advisor before making any investment decisions.
