Cryptocurrency technologies will be permitted in Russia

Smart Contract
SmartContract.ru
Published in
3 min readMay 16, 2019

According to the Ministry of Economic Development, in 4 Russian regions innovations will be tested that are prohibited under the prevailing law of the Russian Federation. We are talking about cryptocurrencies, blockchain, AI, quantum computing, robotechnics, as well as AR and VR technologies. These technologies will be temporarily permitted in the capital, Perm region, as well as in the Kaluga and Kaliningrad regions. The above-listed innovations will be used under the experimental conditions, but transition from local to general regulation is conceivable.

“Regulatory sandboxes”

This initiative was named a “regulatory sandbox”. The key aim of this project is to spark interest in innovative activities by using flexible regulation. As the Ministry of Economic Development plans, this initiative will promote more rapid development of new technological solutions in Russia.
The regional governments are optimistic about ideas of the Ministry of Economic Development to launch the “regulatory sandboxes” in their regions. For example, in the Kaluga region, the “sandboxes” will be launched not only in Kaluga, but also in cities of the region as well. The government of the Kaliningrad region is looking forward to implementation of blockchain technologies above all.

Generally speaking, introduction of “sandboxes” is a unique opportunity to adjust existing statutory provisions to special traits of innovative technologies. This project can’t be considered an innovative one. In many developed countries, there has been a number of experiments involving “regulatory sandboxes”, which make it possible to significantly reduce costs and time of introduction of the most promising innovations. This project enables to test advanced technologies without violating the Russian legislation. Moreover, not only municipality and executive authorities, but physical and legal entities will get an opportunity to test these technologies.

At the same time, a blockchain company Belov IT Lab, known by its brand smartcontract.ru, has been for a long time operating in the Kaluga region. The company’s experts deal with blockchain development, smart contracts, and cryptocurrencies. More than 500 clients from various countries, where blockchain and cryptocurrencies are legalized, have already turned to the company. And now, the company gets an opportunity to operate under the Russian jurisdiction.

Important aspects

Implementation of innovations has not only advantages, but features some aspects as well that should be taken into account. For example, innovations in the medical field cannot be introduced in case they fail to meet a long list of standards, norms, licenses, and other requirements. Of course, the prevailing law can be adjusted to suit these innovations, but such a solution would be extremely risky, since consequences of the majority of innovative technologies have not yet been studied. At the same time, they put human health at huge risks.
Still, the “regulatory sandboxes” have more positive than negative aspects. First of all, they will at last contribute to adjusting the existing laws of the Russian Federation to the economic realities. Above all, it is related to cryptocurrencies that are abundantly used in Russia, with their use being not regulated at all.

© Smartcontract.ru Team

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