Moscow: On Monday, Russia's finance ministry said it would consider central bank proposals on cryptocurrencies as long as they did not contradict its position, paving the door for laws controlling digital assets.
The finance ministry submitted legislative suggestions to the government on Friday that contrasted with the central bank's call for a blanket ban, escalating a simmering disagreement over cryptocurrency regulation in Russia.
Due to the threat that digital currencies represent to financial stability, the Bank of Russia has advocated prohibiting cryptocurrency trade and mining. The finance ministry, on the other hand, wants legislation that controls cryptocurrencies and allows them to be used as an investment tool but not as a payment method.
According to the finance ministry, the draught legislation intends to create a legal market for digital currencies.
One proposal is to require client identification for transactions involving the purchase or sale of bitcoin, a move that could jeopardise one of the cryptocurrencies' main selling points: anonymity.
Other ideas include requiring international cryptocurrency exchanges to obtain a licence in Russia and implementing financial literacy tests to determine how much money individuals are allowed to invest.
Citizens who pass the tests will be able to invest up to 600,000 roubles ($7,853) per year in digital currencies, according to the finance ministry. Those that fail would be limited to an annual investment of 50,000 roubles.
The central bank also opposes cryptocurrency mining, in which powerful computers compete to solve complicated mathematical riddles against others connected to a global network. The bank has raised concerns about inefficient energy use and mining's environmental impact, while the finance ministry prefers to allow mining on a taxation basis.
A request for comment from the central bank was not immediately returned.