Bitcoin Forum

The Russian minister of communications and mass media said yesterday that the country will not consider the legalization of digital currencies like bitcoin. However, Nikiforov added that it is "quite possible" that Russia could consider using blockchain technology, as well as various digital tokens. However he did not provide any context in which the technology might be utilized.

What are your insights about this? Do you think it's really not possible to legalize Bitcoin in Russia?
Source:
https://www.coindesk.com/russia-will-never-consider-bitcoin-legalization-says-minister/

government are afraid on things they cannot control like btc..especially if they cannot put tax on it..legalization will fallow if institution like commerce will accept btc..

Well firstly one person cannot speak for the whole of Russia, even Putin because eventually he will relinquish control and their may be a change in policy. Secondly if one person could speak for them then it certainly wouldn't be the communications and mass media minister. Also if I am not mistaken bitcoin is not illegal in Russia so they are instead talking about accepting it as legal tender.

that is true government may change..one's opinion may not mean other opinion..legality will depends on the acceptance on a person..even if the government will not recognize btc as long as institution do..they don't need to legalize it..all it needs is acceptance from different organization..

If their government dont want it then the people have nothing to do with it. russia if an growing country which specialize on weapons, and bombs so i thing they are not ready to have new way of money in their country. But its to early for bitcoin to become a centralize money all over the world so we dont know what will happen to bitcoin in the future.

Here is your answer : https://www.coindesk.com/vladimir-putin-vitalik-buterin-discuss-ethereum-opportunities-recent-forum/

The Russian government wants FULL control over every aspect of their citizens lives. <That includes their money matters> Vitalik will give Putin that control, because he is the founder and he can be influenced to do what Putin wants him to do.

Why? See below.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_Alexander_Litvinenko

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Anna_Politkovskaya

Bitcoin will never give any governments that power, because there are nobody to "influence" <bribed/forced/manipulated>

I think bitcoin don’t care about Russia because  bitcoin have accepted by some other big countries and they are also rich countries and the good thing is some of them make bitcoin legal and still more countries are trying to accept bitcoin and want to make bitcoin legal, so I think if these countries are not interested in bitcoin so bitcoin can survive without them.

I dont think because Putin invest money to the miner so it means that they are interested to bitcoin so there is a chance to legalize it

this is mostly nonsense. Russia says they want to legalize bitcoin one day and they say they will not the other. and they have not actually done anything either! if they want to "never" consider bitcoin legal then they should have made it illegal now! why haven't they yet?

and at the end of the day, people are still going to be using bitcoin whether their government wants it or not. it is too late for them to make it illegal, it is best to legalize and then set rules for it to at least force people to follow them. they won't stop using bitcoin just because the government said it is not legal.

Same scenario is happening in Indonesia and I guess more countries will decide to do the same thing if the issue involving bitcoin on illegal activities will not be eliminate. I think developers should find a way that government even without any control over bitcoin can even have the opportunity to review the transactions made by their people so that they can trace or even prevent illegal activities using bitcoin. If this thing can happen I'm sure it will be easy for the government to declare legality of bitcoin.

The best example of Russian attitude to cryptocurrencies would be today's announcement made by Aksakov. According to him, there might be a launch of a few ICOs within the framework of the government. A kind of an experiment. All under thorough observation.
Take this years' announcement by Putin, when he said they would try to launch a crypto-ruble. Really?..

That. If Russia, or basically any government wanted to at least get somewhat of a success in stopping Bitcoin, they should have banned each and every aspect of this market back in the sub 2013 years. It's their problem that they didn't take Bitcoin seriously back in the days, and now they will be paying the price for it. Currently it's far too late, and now the average person is gaining more knowledge on how to obtain Bitcoin and what it actually does technically, there is no way governments can prevent anyone from buying himself into Bitcoin. Russia's words in this case hold zero value due to their unsure/unstable stance on crypto currencies. If I say I'm going to do this or that, and that plenty of times in a row, and each time I don't back up these words with actions, how can anyone from that point take me seriously anymore? That's the case with Russia now.

are you sure you didn't misunderstand it and just hear the word ICO. because it seems like they are planning on adopting the blockchain technology and create a new coin for themselves not an ICO to raise funds!!!
and this "crypto-ruble" you are mentioning at the bottom is proving my point. that is the altcoin they have been working on to create and it has nothing to do with any ICO.

Lol! They do not understand that to Russian projects will be the same attitude as their ruble. It is impossible to expect from the government's successful regulation of cryptocurrencies. Russia already had many monetary reforms, but every time their money for nothing. I'm sure that the same fate awaits crypto ruble.

Russia ia a kleptocracy - the people at the top take a cut of everything. They are probably afraid of bitcoin because it's a way of hiding money from the oligarchs - can't take a cut of money you don't know exists!

Russia is also under pressure because money is fleeing it - if you were Russian, would you keep money in Russia , or would you stash some of it abroad? At present they can't open bank accounts in the west, so bitcoin is the easiest way to get money out.

https://news.bitcoin.com/regulation-moscow-stock-exchange-trade-bitcoin-futures/ (https://news.bitcoin.com/regulation-moscow-stock-exchange-trade-bitcoin-futures/)

They're gonna allow trading of BTC futures on the Moscow Exchange. I guess mother Russia will be joining the party BTC

I think you are badly mistaken here. BTC and other cryptocurrencies are great for oligarchs. Just look
at the recent events in the Ukraine. The cabinet members had to disclose their BTC holdings and there
were many ministers, who owned the BTC equivalent of several million $ or more.

And this is only what has been published, many people probably haven´t been caught or didn´t report their full cryptocurrency holdings.
I assume that the politicians in Russia are as heavily involved as their Ukrainian equivalents.

If you would get a bribe would you prefer a BTC payment or a wire transfer?

I have red this article they said the russian law will not tolorate this foreign block chain called bitcoin but its possible thay they will use blockchain technology,but maybe if they're own creation. Bitcoin is unstopable and they cant trace where it came from they'll never control it that is why russia will never legalize btc.

Representatives of state bodies are talking about a lot of things in general, aren`t always talking business and their words don't always remain unchanged

Exactly, his views might not be reflective of the Russian government's agenda but rather his personal opinion which for me it's fair to express but he should be honest with himself and separate his position from that of governments because the statement is too conclusive.

First, he is the minister of communications, so he is not directly involved with financial aspects.
Not that I would care what the minister of finance or the head of the central banks says.

What matters is what Putin thinks, and I doubt he is enjoying the perspective of a free crypto.

And to all those saying Putin met with Vitalik, bla bla....publicity stunts, nothing more.
Remember when Putin gave Xi a Russian made YotaPhone (bankrupt now) ?
https://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2014/11/10/vladimir-putin-gives-xi-jinping-a-russian-yotaphone-2-as-gift/

The Russians have not been very decisive on bitcoins and any other cryptocurrency as a matter of fact. There are always rumors that they are going to adapt bitcoin and the blockchain technology and then reports will later emerge that they are not going to allow its legalization.

This doesn't matter as we observe this from the crypto market before. No matter if they adopt this or ban this, bitcoin is staying as bitcoin and getting a huge demand by the traders.

They may not adop bitcoin, they can even blame bitcoin for being a scam, doesn't matter.

Hello all! What a pity that half of Earth (I mean the territory of Russian Federation) don't allow cryptocurrency. They to provoke Russian people hack all this system and avoid any borders. Russian people don't like borders, limits and constraints!!! Also I know never say never.

it's been a while since Russia wants to develop its own blockchain right?

We cannot blame these country if they are not in favor of bitcoin it is because they see the disadvantage of having these cryptos rather than the help it could give in the economy but even though I am still hoping that time will come and all countries in the world will be in favor of bitcoin and somehow the legality of bitcoin can be declare soon for now let's just continue supporting bitcoin and let the world see its worth

Be wary when anyone with any kind of influence or say on things uses 'infinitives' like never or always. There are no absolutes in this game. Using words like that is a tell that there is something else going on behind the scenes.

Will doubt this statement from Russia, they were never stable in comes to adoption of bitcoin. They had their own coin so what's the matter and the sense of telling this. Countries like Russia which is progressive will never stay out of the league, they'll do something just to get advancement and bitcoin is a great technology for their marketplaces and this "never" will be replaced into "ever" soon.

Thanks for the clarification, communications to financial? That's too far from that minister is talking. He is illiterate on what he talks so don't believe him. This might be another cover up for their future plans with bitcoin, like the old one before that keeps on talking about death of bitcoin and it is fraudulent. Now his company is ready to accept bitcoin, I doubt that Russia will never consider bitcoin.

It sure seems like they softened their stance a lot. In 2014, the government stated that Bitcoin payments were illegal (https://www.theverge.com/2014/2/9/5395050/russia-bans-bitcoin), categorizing it as an illicit money substitute.

I recall either the Finance Minister or his deputy recently said there was no point in banning cryptocurrencies. And there was also a recent story about a local Russian governor issuing an open invitation for Bitcoin miners to set up farms in his province (https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/71hs8o/russian_governor_invites_cryptocurrency_miners_to/).

In other words, there is a lot of flip flopping. At this point, I don't take statements from Russian officials seriously at all. Not until I see actual laws/regulations being passed. They've been playing these games for years.

Russia is pretty unpredictable and unreliable when it comes to these things. If in the near future its in their best interest to support bitcoin, they'll regulate and legalize it and start adding support and incentives for cryptocurrencies - thats just how they work and have been doing for the past decade.

Russia loves to give crap to China and China keeps coming for more. They got the soviet era aircraft carrier that would otherwise be scrapped and many other things. I'm always amazed by their business plans.
Ministers come and go. this guy thinks this and in 5 years another, younger guy will think otherwise. This minister looks quite young, I wonder why he talks like a grumpy old fart. Probably spent too much time with those conservative grandpas from the banking sector.

Doesn't surprise me, but as long as they don't have it banned there isn't much else that can be done. If Bitcoin can remain in a "decriminalized" status, then there is nothing that prevents the Russian users from doing what they do as long as they pay their taxes and don't try to circumvent the laws of the land. I have a feeling that "legalization" for a lot of these countries just means that they are allowing for the users within their borders to pay taxes and have it accepted as a legally tender currency; something that most countries wouldn't want to have happen and compete against their own indigenous currencies.

Is that a joke? when Russia was a progressive country? Russia's economy is insignificant. Putin fears the spread of bitcoin. He will surely forbid it. The idea of crypto money will not receive wide distribution. The main condition for the popularity of the cryptocurrency is freedom. It seems to me that the idea of the various States to issue its own cryptocurrency will fail.

If you know what I mean about it's progress in arms, they are progressive on that thing and I'm generalizing them with that. What I'm pointing out is there is no sense of saying that they will never get into bitcoin while they are promoting their own coin that is also a cryptocurrency. Issuance of their own cryptocurrencies will likely to be a failure, I never heard of a country that has a cryptocurrency that became popular.

I understand that some countries will not consider bitcoin as a legal currency especially after hearing some bad news involving bitcoin in illegal transactions maybe some countries don't see bitcoin as a tool to help their economy others might be threaten of the capability of bitcoin and cryptocurrency to rule the world market they don't want to lose their control over currencies which bitcoin offering to us.

Usually the more conservative a country is the more it is reserved and afraid of changes. I've just read about some religious freaks from Turkey being against it, China with their socialist attitude and now Russia, the mother of communism. I'm not at all surprised. It was to be expected. Fortunately most of the world supports progress and conservatists are in the minority, just like religious fanatics.

Yes exactly. It's just an opinion. I could see it was nonesense as son as read "never" because you should never say never. He is bit a special person when can change things he s not a God he has no magical powers. Just blowing fire u have arse.

They obviously very scared of Bitcoin. That is the power if Bitcoin. In brings fear to this house don't want freedom. In threatens the greedy and lawless. Tax havens fear it because they want their cut. They will call us aoo sorts if things and try use media to portray bitcoin as evil. Something cannot be evil only a person can be evil. A tool is a tool. A spanner cannot be evil for it is a tool and the same with Bitcoin. If you heat someone to death with a spanner shuod we now blame the spanner? A very useful tool?