Bitcoin Daily: Bill Proposes National Oversight For Crypto Exchanges; Russia Seeks Criminal Penalty For Not Reporting Crypto

The Digital Commodity Exchange Act of 2020, which was proposed by a U.S. representative Thursday (Sept. 24), could put digital currency exchanges under one national structure, CoinDesk reported.

U.S. Representative Michael Conaway of Texas, who is the House Committee on Agriculture’s ranking member, put forward the legislation.

The bill aims to ascribe a federal meaning to “digital commodity exchanges.” It would organize them into a distinct legal category and have the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in charge of supervision, according to the report.

The legislation would “streamline” many separate American digital currency rules in the event it is ratified, per CoinDesk.

According to a summary of the bill, as cited by CoinDesk, “the proposed legislation builds on the existing commodity market practices required of Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs) to protect customer assets.”

The legislation describes a new structure for cryptocurrencies, which would provide them with a treatment like those of commodities with the Commodities Exchange Act.

In other news, the Ministry of Finance in Russia keeps advocating for digital currency industry rules through the introduction of new tax mandates, Cointelegraph reported.

The body is reportedly aiming to bring about criminal responsibility for those that don’t declare taxes on digital currency. It aims to have those that don’t disclose an amount exceeding $13,000 in yearly digital currency operations face a jail term of three years or hard labor, Cointelegraph reported, citing local media.

Moreover, the body is seeking to have large penalties for less substantial undisclosed amounts. Every entity in the nation would need to disclose yearly digital currency income if it is above $1,300. In addition, the body is also seeking to have local digital currency exchanges be mandated to disclose transactions on taxes quarterly.

The new potential regulations point to future “On Digital Currency” legislation and the new digital currency regulation “On Digital Assets.” According to Cointelegraph, legislators do not provide digital currency taxation rates or overall regulations to disclose transactions in “On Digital Assets” as it stands.