Russian President Putin Signed A Bill Banning Payments With Bitcoin And Crypto

Putin signed a bill banning payments for goods and services with cryptocurrencies.

According to local media RBC, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill making it a law that prohibits using digital financial assets (DFA) and digital utility rights (DPR) as a means of payment in Russia.

The bill was submitted for consideration by Anatoly Aksakov, head of the State Duma Committee on the financial market, on June 7.

“It is prohibited to transfer or accept digital financial assets as a consideration for transferred goods, performed works, rendered services, as well as in any other way that allows one to assume payment for goods (works, services) by a digital financial asset, except as otherwise provided by federal laws.”

Anatoly Aksakov proposed that digital currencies as inapplicable as a payment method. He reminded that Russia’s national currency – the ruble – remains the only official monetary unit of the nation.

Along with banning crypto payments, the law also levies crypto exchange operators to refuse transactions where it is possible to use such assets as a monetary surrogate. This means that crypto brokers facilitating payments are now subjected to the national payment system, in turn putting them under the oversight of the country’s financial regulator.

The law makes a reservation that the ban can be lifted in the presence of cases provided for by federal laws. The law will enter into force ten days after its official publication.

The Russian authorities were strongly divided on how to approach the local cryptocurrency industry. The country’s central bank always insisted on a total ban of all digital asset endeavors, while the Finance Ministry believed imposing regulations was a better idea. 

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