Russia is set to consider new laws governing cryptocurrency when proposals are introduced to the country\'s national legislature on December 28th. Russian media cite comments made by the chair of the State Duma’s financial markets committee, Anatoly Aksakov:

\"I expect that the draft law regarding cryptocurrencies will be adopted by March 2018... The issue is that there are already a large number of people who have acquired cryptocurrencies, and we need to provide people with the opportunity to operate legally; this is to protect them as much as we can,\" said Aksakov.

These comments suggest that the Russian cryptocurrencies bill will not be finalised by the end of 2017, as previously suggested by Aksakov. Conflicts over the scope and reach of the newlaws have caused delays. The new draft law follows months of speculation following President Vladimir Putin’s order for tighter regulation of cryptocurrencies and Blockchain technology, especially the rules around initial coin offerings (ICOs).

Aksakov mentioned Putin\'s orders when discussing how the draft law would progress in the coming months:

\"The deadline was designated by the president himself; in one week the new cryptocurrency bill will be presented and then the debates can start\", he said.