The signals are increasingly green for cryptocurrency fans.
Within days, in quick succession, authorities in Russia and the United States sent positive messages suggesting that the adoption of digital currencies was well on its way.
In Russia, the authorities have made a major U-turn. The country no longer wants to ban cryptocurrencies, as Bank of Russia, the country's central bank, suggested in January. On the contrary, they now want to legalize them, according to a recent government announcement.
The Russian government wants to include cryptocurrencies in the local financial system. Moscow is considering allowing cryptocurrencies to operate under a special license.
Investors will be divided between qualified and unqualified persons in order to protect citizens. Cryptocurrency service providers should fulfill liquidity conditions and inform the authorities of potential risks related to their activity.
Legalizing the crypto industry should have benefits for public finances, the Russian government calculates. It would allow the country, experts say, to identify users of digital currencies and crypto miners and slap them with taxes.
Energy-rich Russia has become one of the world's leading cryptocurrency mining hubs. By identifying miners, the government could generate additional revenue by imposing a tax on them.
Crypto mining is using computer code to confirm cryptocurrency value and record transactions. It does not actually mine resources from dirt or rock, like traditional mining operations. But is still a highly energy-heavy process requiring heavy hardware and constant energy use to keep the blockchain going.
A first draft of the law is expected for February 18.
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A U.S. Law May Let States Invest in Crypto
In Tennessee, in the United States, elected officials have introduced a law that would allow the state, counties and municipalities to invest in cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens. The bill was introduced by Jason Powell, a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives.
Lawmakers hope to attract players from the cryptocurrency industry which is exploding with crazy valuations - the NFTs trading platform OpenSea was recently valued at more than $13 billion during its last fundraising. funds, while the valuation of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX reached $32 billion in less than three years.
Tennessee has been courting the cryptocurrency industry for several months now. Steve Conger, Mayor of Jacksonville, has been working to incorporate bitcoin into the city government, marking a first for any city government in the country.
“We offer our employees a deferred compensation opportunity for their retirement already. Why not add more options?” he said back in December as reported by The Jackson Sun.
Fan of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, Conger has already taken initiatives to make his city crypto-compatible. "I'm taking pointers from@FrancisSuarez in the coming weeks I will be forming a Block Chain Task Force to explore how to best position the @CityofJacksonTN for the future," he tweeted last April referring to the Mayor of Miami.
Since 2021, many local authorities have taken steps in favor of the cryptocurrency industry despite the firmness of the federal government. In December, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis proposed the state government allow businesses to pay fees with cryptocurrencies including bitcoin.
Eric Adams, the mayor of New York, and Francis Suarez have caused the buzz by deciding to convert their salaries into cryptocurrencies.
