Authorities in Russia continue the game of ping pong in regulating cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) even after passing the country’s first crypto law. Russia’s Ministry of Finance has reportedly proposed a set of amendments to the law “On Digital Financial Assets,” or DFA, which bans many operations with crypto. According to local news agency Izvestia, the proposed amendments envision a “blanket ban on any operations with virtual money for individuals and individual entrepreneurs” except for three scenarios. The ministry reportedly wants to ban all crypto transactions except the obtaining of assets through inheritance, bankruptcy and enforcement proceedings. The amendments reportedly …
Russia’s central bank governor Elvira Nabiullina is the latest official to confirm that the country is warming to the idea of cryptocurrency payments, but not domestic ones. According to Nabiullina, cryptocurrencies can be used in cross-border or international payments only if they don’t get into Russia’s domestic financial system. The digital currency should not be used as payment on platforms inside Russia, the Bank of Russia governor said in an interview with the local news agency RBC. That is why cryptocurrency prices are too unstable or volatile, thus risky for retail investors, Nabiullina argued, stating: “Cryptocurrencies should not be traded …
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill into law prohibiting digital financial assets as payments more than a month after it was introduced to the country’s lower chamber of Parliament. In a Thursday update, the Russian State Duma noted that Putin signed a bill suspending certain parts of an existing federal law “on banks and banking activities,” effectively making it illegal for people to use cryptocurrencies to pay for goods and services. The initial draft of the bill from June 7 specified the “prohibition against the introduction of other monetary units or monetary surrogates on the territory of the …
The Bank of Russia, the country’s central bank, has reportedly admitted that cross-border payments in crypto are inevitable in the current geopolitical conditions. The Russian central bank has been rethinking the approach to regulating crypto and agreed with the finance ministry to legalize crypto for cross-border payments, the local news agency TASS reported on Sept. 5. Deputy finance minister Alexei Moiseev reportedly said that the Bank of Russia and the finance ministry expect to legitimize cross-border payments in crypto soon. Moiseev outlined the importance of enabling local crypto services in Russia, noting that many Russians rely on foreign platforms to …
In a statement released on Oct. 6, the European Union introduced another set of sanctions against Russia due to the prolonged and recently escalated conflict in Ukraine. The new sanctions include a complete ban on cross-border crypto payments between Russians and E.U. This statement includes the prohibition of, “all crypto-asset wallets, accounts, or custody services, irrespective of the amount of the wallet." New sanctions were installed as a response to Russia’s illegal annexation of Ukrainian territory as the result of what the EU calls a “sham” referendum, along with troop mobilization and threats of nuclear escalation. The previous sanctions capped …