Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill that bans crypto as a payment method in the nation. The law recognizes the Ruble as the only official payment way in the nation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has officially approved a bill banning the use of digital currencies as a means of payment in Russian territory.
This decision means that Russians cannot employ cryptocurrencies as payment “for transferred goods, performed works, or primary services. The law gives exchange operators the power not to carry out transactions that use digital financial assets for payments.
DFAs include all assets in the digital world, including digital currency. The policy also prohibits payments with utilitarian digital rights (UDR).
The chairman of the Financial Market Committee, Anatoly Aksakov, in the State Duma, the Russian parliament’s lower chamber, launched the law on June 7, and the parliament greenlighted it on July 8.
Before now, the country had no law prohibiting crypto assets as a method to pay. But it has banned monetary surrogates and considers the Ruble the only legal coin in the nation.
The law will become effective ten days after its release in the official gazette. However, the bill does not prohibit digital assets, which means there are other applications, including payments in international trades.
Russia is going through a series of extraordinary events, including the economic sanctions imposed by the world due to the current conflict in Ukraine. Some government officials support the proposal to permit crypto payments for trade with partners.
Russia Sends Mixed Impressions Regarding the Crypto World
Meanwhile, the nation still has a long way to go regarding regulating digital assets. In 2021, it activated a law called On Digital Financial Assets, introducing two legal terms: DFA and UDR.
Officials have explained that DFA is a name for crypto assets, and UDR refers to all other kinds of tokens.
Additionally, lawmakers in the nation will consider new laws on digital assets later this year. These laws got expected to bring more regulatory clarity to the scenario.
Despite all the regulation aperture, crypto remains one of the most prominent topics in Russia. The most significant countries across the globe, including the U.S., think the nation is avoiding financial punishment by using crypto as a method.
But specialists expressed that there are minimum chances for this to happen due to the public nature of the blockchain and because the Russian economy is just too big to handle it this way.
On its part, Russian authorities are starting to observe the true potential of digital assets and cryptocurrencies after initially considering a blanket prohibition on the said assets.
In January, Putin showed his support for Bitcoin mining and highlighted that the country counts on various advantages that would help to carry out a healthy crypto mining activity. One of these advantages is the surplus electricity and well-trained personnel.
The crypto activities in the eastern region have always been a subject of controversy. Such is the case of Ukraine, which had received donations in crypto to deal with the damages caused by Russia during the ongoing conflict.
By: Jenson Nuñez
