Russia advances crypto bill to recognize as property, tighten state control

The Financial Market Committee of Russia's State Duma has approved the final draft of a bill to establish state control over cryptocurrencies, which will now proceed to a second plenary reading, Bits.media reported. Key provisions of the bill include recognizing cryptocurrency as legal property, allowing companies engaged in foreign economic activities to use it for payments, and penalizing unlicensed crypto services. Additionally, the bill would cap annual investments for individuals at 300,000 rubles (about $4,000), limited to BTC, ETH, USDT, and USDC, and set the withdrawal limit from non-custodial wallets at 100,000 rubles (about $1,300). The bill is slated for a final vote in a third reading, after which it will be reviewed by the Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, before being sent to the president for signature. The target implementation date was postponed from July 1 to Sept. 1.