Bitcoin Forum

A new bill in Russia on digital currencies may well not allow for legal crypto payments as first believed

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A draft bill pertaining to protect the rights of cryptocurrency owners while also regulating them in line with Russian laws was introduced to parliament in March with the biggest expectation being the legalization of cryptocurrency payments.

However, local media reports from Russia today are suggesting that the expectation of making digital currencies legal may not come to pass, this according to Izvestia, the news portal of the Ministry of Information Technologies.

News from the new bill

The bill aims to establish a legal basis for digital rights and digital transactions, Head of the State Construction Committee Pavel Krasheninnikov told Izvestia. It is proof that the governmental heads do consider cryptocurrencies a promising technology that should be entered into the country’s legal framework.

While the bill is aimed at being balanced, adding more rights and protection to cryptocurrency users, for the regulators, it is hoped these laws will eliminate risks of digital objects being used to place assets in an uncontrolled environment, by which proceeds of crime can become legalized.

While crypto payments will not be legalized under these amendments, it follows from the bill that in the future, such currencies will be used as payment “in controlled quantities.”

On Putin’s orders

The move to control cryptocurrencies in Russia has emanated from its highest source, President Vladimir Putin. The Russian Leader had set a deadline on July 1 for relevant cryptocurrency legislation to be adopted in the country.

This was the opening stages of the bill which is now being amended by Russia’s State Duma Committee on State Construction.

The bill does not address all of the president’s directives, but it presents conditions for further regulation of the digital currency industry (https://cryptodetail.com/category/crypto-regulation).

Source: https://cryptocomes.com/russias-digital-law-bill-not-aimed-at-legalizing-crypto-payments

That's right, this law prohibits payments in cryptocurrency. At the same time, it prescribes the rights and obligations of investors in the ICOs, defines the concept of mining and crypto-currencies. I think that the adoption of this law is a big step forward!

Acknowledging is always the first step i guess.

"While crypto payments will not be legalized under these amendments, it follows from the bill that in the future, such currencies will be used as payment “in controlled quantities.”

They're being cautious with dealing with crypto and that's understandable. It's hard to speculate on what it could be from where we are.

don't even know whether it is good or bad

This is one of the reasons why I don't keep hopes high when news broke about "Russia is planning to legalize bitcoin" or "New bill will make bitcoin legal in Russia" and all of related news as such that until we see the implementation happening, there is nothing to rejoice about because bills are meant to be discussed and until when its signed, discussions can swing in any direction which could either be good or bad. However, there is something to rejoice about this news because if its any consolation, it gives hope that eventually, everything we wanted would happen and that is something worth happy over in this era of discouraging prices of crypto currencies.

Exactly, that's why I always chuckle seeing news coming from Russia about legalizing crypto blah, blah, blah because it won't happened period. How many times did they contradict themselves? LOL, We lost count already. Bitcoin mining farm? I haven't seen any pictures of anything related to mining although Russia is very conducive because of cold weather and abundant supply of electricity. So I don't know if there's something to rejoice about this news because I really take everything with a bag of salt coming from Russia regarding bitcoin and crypto as a whole.

The draft bill doesn't prohibit crypto payments, but not consider them as a legitimate means of payment. Apart from Japan, Australia and Germany, no other nation has recognized Bitcoin as a legal tender.


Last year, the Russian Finance Ministry had proposed that mining should be regulated and miners need to register with the government, don't know whether this proposal is included in this draft bill, if yes that's going to be tricky. As Putin has given a deadline of July 1st to implement crypto regulations, this bill finally/probably would become one of the first crypto laws in Russia.

It seems to me that in Russia there will be a law that will actually prohibit the free circulation of the crypto currency. Perhaps, someone will be allowed to use crypto currency in "limited quantities", but this is unlikely to be for ordinary citizens. In general, I do not expect from Russia that there will be free circulation of crypto-currencies. Such walking and regulation will more resemble a ban than a permit.

We shouldn't focus on countries that might or might not open up at some point, but focus on that what's actually contributing to crypto adoption. Russia has always been somewhat of a contradicting country when it comes to their actions and statements concerning crypto, and there hasn't been one single thing they changed in the last years to showcase their will to look for ways to come up with proper regulations. I have the impression that they actually like the unclear nature of their current system since it is granting them the perfect position as government to step in when needed, even when it's completely unfair. Let them do whatever they want, this market will keep growing regardless of Russia.

They do not want to let their people use crypto, but this was already expected of a country like Russia with shade political system. I do not understand why news channels waste time worrying about russia.

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