But when they say "criminal penalty for mining and other operation", what they mean? I say, how can Russia know who are using Bitcoin, how can Russia know who are trading or mining Bitcoin?

I think this image can describe the idea I want pass: http://news.insidebitcoins.com/sites/default/files/government-banning-bitcoin.jpg

Am I wrong about that?

I miss the Soviet Union, at least they respected the personal and social freedom (but, yes, I know Stalin was a lunatic).

2014-08-01 20:29 GMT-03:00 Troy Benjegerdes <hozer@hozed.org>:

On Fri, Aug 01, 2014 at 08:10:55PM +0000, Anton Nesterov wrote:
> Ministry of Finance of Russia drafted a bill to ban cryptocurrencies
> with administrative or criminal penalty for mining and other operation.
> Also they want to censor bitcoin-related websites.
>
> This will come into force in 2015.
>
> http://top.rbc.ru/economics/01/08/2014/940521.shtml (in Russian)

I don't know anything about russian politics, but US politicians draft
idiotic rules/legislation all the time that get dramatically changed.

(exhibit a:
http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/07/17/ny-financial-regulator-releases-draft-of-bitlicense-for-bitcoin-businesses/
)

If Russia wishes to exclude themselves from the world economy, that is their
choice, but I suspect their oligarchs will still want to hide money in New York
http://nymag.com/news/features/foreigners-hiding-money-new-york-real-estate-2014-6/
and they'll have to get a Bitlicense to properly launder the transaction.

My prediction is that Bitlicense will evolve into being the much vaunted
'anonymous digital cash', and you'll just need to pay the proper protection fee
to the state of New York or they will get a bank to hold your funds for ransom
like they are doing to Argentina's on-time debt payments.

I also fully expect other states and nations will get into the licensed cryptocoin
protection racket in ways that reflect their local culture and values.

Don't mess with flyover land if you want to get insurance.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/tech/2014/05/16/des-moines-area-insurers-create-startups-haven-technology-iowa-innovation/9160921/

--

Fernando Paladini