Russia is planning to open up four of its regions to test innovations that do not fall under the purview of its current legislation, Bitcoin news reports.
According to a bill drafted by Russia’s Economy Ministry, regulatory sandboxes will be allowed to establish bases in these regions. This effectively means that companies, firms, and projects will be allowed to experiment with cryptocurrencies in these regions without actually breaking any federal law, even though the administration is set to regulate crypto-assets.
The draft has been designed to facilitate the development of neuro- and quantum technologies, artificial intelligence, robotics, virtual and augmented reality as well as crypto and blockchain technologies. Companies are often unable to introduce these innovations to the market due to the absence of a relevant legal framework governing their implementation.
The plan is to launch projects in all of these fields within regulatory sandboxes that will be created in Moscow and the regions of Perm, Kaluga, and Kaliningrad.
“For many years cryptocurrencies are actively circulating around the world, but in fact, most countries, including Russia, do not regulate their use. Regulatory sandboxes will be effective if they are used as test grounds for norms that can later be applied to adapt the legal environment to the new technological structure,” Kirill Kabanov, an advisor to the Russian president, told the Izvestia newspaper.
According to Bitcoin.com, even after the adoption of laws and regulations pertaining to the digital economy, it’s likely that decentralized cryptocurrencies will not be allowed to circulate freely in Russia. Money surrogates are banned in the country and the ruble is the only legal tender.
