The worldwide cryptocurrency and blockchain regulatory framework is undergoing constant changes, backed by big perspective differences, resulting in friendly and anti-crypto laws.

As such, this article will cover 3 recent developments on the crypto regulatory trend, being carried out in Iran, Russia and Malta.

Iranian Crypto Miners Are Threatened with Power Cuts

Not long ago, Iran’s Deputy Energy Minister has shared his opinion on digital currency mining, and states that miners should be charged higher rates for their power usage. At that time, he also mentioned that subsidies should be cut to zero.

Unfortunately, the situation has gotten worse. Based on this, Iran’s state-sponsored power company, Tavanir, has warned cryptocurrency miners that they will be detected and that power cuts will be carried out. The argument behind this threat is that Iran’s power consumption has reportedly increased by 7% on a yearly basis, due to the vast increase in local crypto mining operations. Additionally, a new framework that makes utilizing the national power grid for mining operations has been implemented.

Despite the increased popularity of cryptocurrencies, the mining industry is still struggling in several countries. As part of this article, we will cover two recent developments that have taken place in Russia and Iran.

Russia Planning to Introduce Administrative Penalties for Crypto Miners

With this in mind, recent reports indicate that the Russian State Duma is currently debating whether administrative responsibility should be introduced for the local digital currency mining market. According to Anatoly Aksakov, the chairman of the Duma’s Financial Market Committee: “I note that any operations with cryptocurrency that are contrary to the Russian legislation will be considered illegitimate. This means that mining, organizing issuance, circulation, creating exchange points for these tools will be prohibited. Administrative liability in the form of a fine will be incurred for such actions. We believe that cryptocurrencies created on open blockchains such as bitcoins, ethers, and others are illegitimate tools.”

SWIFT, commonly known as the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, represents one of the world’s biggest financial networks, as it allows financial institutions throughout the world to send and receive money alongside data on financial transactions, via a reliable and standardized environment. It represents the system used by most of the world’s banks for sending and receiving money, yet it has often threatened to withdraw from Russia given economic sanctions.

As a response, back in 2014, Russia has begun developing its very own Financial Communications Transfer System (SPFS) that it would use in case of a SWIFT withdrawal. While the SPFS is currently an alternative system, a total of 585 Russian banks use it as a standard, whereas others keep it in reserve in case SWIFT ends up being withdrawn from the country.

During the last couple of months, Russia’s attitude towards Bitcoin and other digital currencies was quite conflicting, yet surely negative for the market. Recent reports indicate that the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, has just ordered the government to begin drafting up legislation for digital currencies, ICOs and mining.

At this time, there are several reports available on what these laws will do, and what they will restrict.

Russia has always been an important force for the evolution and value of digital currency, yet the numerous internal debates going on in the country make it hard for the average bitcoin users to understand what is really going on, and whether the Kremlin government is either against, or for digital currencies.

This mostly relates to the numerous news articles related to Russia putting Bitcoin in a bad light, similar to what China has been doing for a while, yet is this really the truth? Recent reports indicate that last week, law enforcement in Russia decided to arrest three individuals, who were then charged with illegally trading around $9 million worth of Bitcoin, which represents the country’s first criminal case against bitcoin sales so far. While some may interpret this and state that the Russian government is against any use of bitcoin, it simply shows that the Kremlin authority wants to crack down on those who are using the digital currency as a means for money laundering, rather than its true purpose. Not only this, but there have been numerous reports of Russian courts banning several bitcoin websites alongside with exchanges from allowing people to exchange bitcoin to rubles and vice versa, mostly due to the fact that the law states that there is no legal way for people to legally exchange bitcoin into rubles.

During the last couple of months, Ethereum has had its ups and downs, yet at this time, it is close to nearing $400 in value for a single token, whereas the development of smart, decentralized applications based on smart contracts is at its peak.

Recent reports indicate that the founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, has recently signed a contract with the Russian State Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs and Development (VEB), to develop a separate entity, similar to the traditional one, named Ethereum Russia. The main purpose for this development is to help enhance the country’s abilities to create, adopt and implement blockchain technology.

During the last couple of months, Bitcoin has become more of a taboo subject over in Russia, especially due to the numerous government tries to discourage the use of the digital currency. Regardless of this, recent reports indicate that there is some room for improvement.

With this in mind, Russian authorities are reportedly considering the idea of abandoning the efforts to institute criminal penalties for those who use the cryptocurrency within the country. Surprisingly enough, it seems that representatives from the country's Central Bank, government bureaus and the Ministry of Finance agree with the idea, and have become more supportive Bitcoin.

Russia has been a key player in the effort to ban digital currencies for a while now, but things are about to change. According to recent reports, an official of the Russia’s Ministry of Finance has stated that the financial regulator will support a law meant to ban the use of bitcoin domestically, yet allow people to use it as a foreign currency.

With this in mind, the deputy finance minister, Alexei Moiseev, declared that their change of tone is partially due to the increasing popularity of digital currencies worldwide, and is meant to limit the use of alternatives to the ruble inside the country. Together with this, the amendments made to the law will likely remove the uncertainty that those working with blockchain technology have faced in Russia so far.

The Bitcoin status in Russia has been unclear ever since bitcoin came out and started gaining in popularity. According to recent reports, it seems like Russia went ahead and blocked one of the largest bitcoin exchanges: BTC-e.

If you’re not yet aware, trading platform BitStamp decided to voluntarily ban Russian IPs, in order to avoid legislative issues with the country, which is getting considerably more hostile towards bitcoin and other digital currencies. In fact, these developments represent the first effects of a couple of bills, meant to criminalize cryptocurrencies, and other money substitutes on the Russian financial market.

So far, Russia is one of the most anti-bitcoin countries, considering the fact that they have extensive legislation in place, meant to discourage the use of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Recent reports indicate that the Russian government is now threatening to ban bitcoin, considering the fact that a total of 6.9% of Russians are using the digital currency. The numbers come from a recent survey, carried out by a Slovakian Internet security company, known by the name of ESET.