Russia just created perplexity on its stance on cryptocurrency as its lower parliament chamber introduced a bill to ban crypto as a payment method. The recent months, investors have witnessed regulators and legislators in Russia trying to embed and institutionalize crypto fully.
The country has been trying to incorporate crypto as a taxable investment asset and a foreign trade tool. The current bill just created chaos in the minds of investors as the regulatory bill would take a u-turn for the mere possibility of accepting crypto as a payment method.
The dreams of crypto payment in Russia might shatter if the bill passes
Anatoliy Aksakov, the Financial Markets Committee head of the Russian parliament’s lower chamber, introduced the bill on June 7. The bill states the prohibition of the use of digital assets for any financial activities including payment for any goods or services.
“The ruble is the official monetary unit (currency) of the Russian Federation. The aforementioned article sets a prohibition against the introduction of other monetary units or monetary surrogates on the territory of the Russian Federation.”
Cover note of the crypto bill
Even though the bill still states the existing rules in Russia, the process of making payments using crypto in the country is still not legal.
The new document would formalize the restriction and require DFA exchange managers to refuse any transactions involving the use of cryptocurrency as a monetary substitute.
The new bill also talks about the electronic platform concept. It is generally referring to the platforms which deal with digital assets. The platforms would require submitting their information to the central bank.
The bill follows Minister of Industry and Trade of the Federation of Russia—Denis Manturov’s recent statement in May where he said that – “Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies being legalized in Russia for payments was just a matter of time and would happen “sooner or later.”