Russian party leader suggests legalizing Bitcoin, says 2 million citizens already have Bitcoin wallets

A small political party in Russia is now accepting Bitcoin donations, according to Russian media reports.

Boris Titov, the Russian Presidential Plenipotentiary for the Protection of Entrepreneurs’ Rights and leader of the Justice Cause party, is trying to guide the Party of Growth to create a clear and transparent legal system and regulation for cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin.

The Russian Party of Growth, which represents liberal free market economics and democracy, believes that Bitcoin blockchain technology has been developing rapidly around the world, including Russia. Therefore, the party proposes to legalize Bitcoin mining and formally recognize Bitcoin property rights.

In an interview with Russian news agency TASS, Boris expressed the importance of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, in the Russian economy and stressed their impact on the financial sector.

“We (Growth Party) estimate that more than 2 million Russian citizens have opened their own Bitcoin wallets,” Boris said, further emphasizing that Bitcoin blockchain technology and its advantages will positively promote Russia’s economic situation.

With the help of Boris Titov, the Growth Party will amend the foreign investment law to attract foreign investors to invest in Russian Bitcoin startups and mining companies. Boris hinted that the party may convince the government to lift restrictions on Bitcoin investment to stimulate the growth of digital currencies in the country.

The party is also reportedly planning to use the Bitcoin blockchain to serve the government. Specifically, Boris said that Russian courts could use the timestamps of Bitcoin transactions to protect their records and data, placing them in an irrefutable distributed ledger.

Although Russian President Vladimir Putin has made several appearances over the past few years to discuss the legality of Bitcoin in Russia, Russia has so far failed to establish any kind of regulatory scheme or clarify the legal status of digital currencies and the right to use them to settle financial transactions.

The attitude of the Growth Party and Boris Titov may lead to the Russian government officially recognizing Bitcoin as a property and allowing Russian citizens to trade digital currencies.