Russia legalizing Bitcoin and cryptos but not allowed as payment method?

[cheezcarls]

Okay so months ago, we thought that they're all set to lay down the axe on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in Russia. But right now, lawmakers have passed a bill to legalize cryptocurrencies in their country.

However, there's one section of the bill states that Bitcoin cannot be used as payment method. They do legalize cryptocurrency trading though, but not sure when it comes to crowdfunding, ICOs, etc.

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/russian-lawmakers-finally-pass-countrys-major-crypto-bill

Any reactions so far guys?

[davis196]

Okay so months ago, we thought that they're all set to lay down the axe on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in Russia. But right now, lawmakers have passed a bill to legalize cryptocurrencies in their country.

However, there's one section of the bill states that Bitcoin cannot be used as payment method. They do legalize cryptocurrency trading though, but not sure when it comes to crowdfunding, ICOs, etc.

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/russian-lawmakers-finally-pass-countrys-major-crypto-bill

Any reactions so far guys?

I'm very cautious when it comes to cryptocurrency related news regarding Russia.Those news might be fake.
It this news is true,I get where they are going with not allowing crowdfunding and ICO.Most crypto crowdfunding projects and ICOs were scams,so banning such activities isn't a wrong move.
However,not allowing crypto payments for goods and services is kinda stupid.
Maybe the Russian legislators think that the non-reversible cryptocurrency transactions provide a "scammer-friendly" environment,where the customers will pay using crypto and get nothing in return.
Anyway,it would be nice,if cryptocurrencies get completely legalized in Russia.

[larus]

Is crypto legal status in Russia really important? As i remember FSB said that they will never allow crypto as payment

[sunsilk]

If they prohibit the use of bitcoin as a payment method, then bitcoin users have to convert and trade it to fiat first for something that they have purchased. Russians will look to the positive news that the fact this bill is for the adoption of bitcoin for trading.

The last part of the news is about Russia's central bank being charged as the regulator for most crypto that will land on their country. That will be the other country's move if they adopt and regulate bitcoin.

It will be big news if it's finally a law.

[avikz]

Okay so months ago, we thought that they're all set to lay down the axe on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in Russia. But right now, lawmakers have passed a bill to legalize cryptocurrencies in their country.

However, there's one section of the bill states that Bitcoin cannot be used as payment method. They do legalize cryptocurrency trading though, but not sure when it comes to crowdfunding, ICOs, etc.

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/russian-lawmakers-finally-pass-countrys-major-crypto-bill

Any reactions so far guys?

I have been seeing this news since last 3 days in my Google news feed from various sources. It seems like Russian lawmakers are thoroughly confused on their actions on cryptocurrency in general. First they thought of banning it and now when they are realizing that it's beyond their control, they are trying to regularize it! But yes, I generally don't believe any news coming from a communist country where media doesn't have right to speak freely!

Regularizing cryptocurrency but not recognizing it as a payment method, makes little sense to me! Probably they want to map the group that is using cryptocurrency first and then wrack havoc on them to ban the cryptocurrency from the country. Communist countries can take such extreme measures to be honest and can go to any extent without looking at human rights. Extreme caution is advised!

[mk4]

That just means that you won't be able to use bitcoin to pay directly on stores. While that's not good, I don't think it's like super bad either. As for now we're mostly stuck with selling bitcoin for fiat or using bitcoin debit cards(which should be allowed because you're not directly paying with bitcoin/crypto) in most countries anyway, so for now this isn't that much of a big deal.

[crwth]

So if I understood it correctly, they are actually trying to prevent peer-to-peer transactions but allowing the possibility of profiting from trading and other crowd-funding types or something? I think what they are doing is making stores not accept Bitcoin to prevent complications with taxing and other financial related with their lawmakers or something. Maybe in the future, they would be able to make it legal to accept it in normal ways or in anything.

I'm just curious if they have a custodial wallet that covers every place there? Or is the "most" being used?

[slaman29]

Can't say it's surprising. They know they can't BAN the p2p trading as much as they'd like to, so smart move to legalize it so they can tax it anyway. They know that most people will be using it to trade anyway, and don't want the headache of having to regulate and mediate businesses that use crypto or as securities so happy to just regulated trading.

[tippytoes]

Can't say it's surprising. They know they can't BAN the p2p trading as much as they'd like to, so smart move to legalize it so they can tax it anyway. They know that most people will be using it to trade anyway, and don't want the headache of having to regulate and mediate businesses that use crypto or as securities so happy to just regulated trading.

I think there's no problem with that. If they don't want to use crypto as payment method, the crypto user can just convert his crypto to fiat. And then, just use that fiat for payment, right? So at least they are not banning the usage of bitcoin or crypto. Because that would be their disadvantage if they will totally ban it. Their citizens need this especially during this crisis.

[hatshepsut93]

Really strange decision - if they are scared that Bitcoin will undermine ruble, why allow trading? If they are not scared, why ban payments? Russia yet again is being paranoid for no reason.
This decision makes me think that there will be very serious surveillance around their legal exchanges, and if I were in Russia, I would prefer to trade only on decentralized exchanges.

Like with the recent news from China, it's a net positive, but it's not huge. Still, would be nice if the "at least not banned" trend will continue.

[Oasisman]

Russia really hated Bitcoin, but somehow found out a value on to it. The reason why they put cryptocurrency in a gray zone for quite a long time.
During the 2nd reading of this bill, It was stated there that
the previous version of sanctions on the DFA bill has been shelved according to this article from this topic.

IMO, this major crypto bill in Russia doesn't remove Bitcoin in the gray zone, because they still prohibits p2p transactions. While at the same time it's a good thing that Russian can now trade legally.
Nevertheless, their decisions are constantly changing.

[teosanru]

Okay so months ago, we thought that they're all set to lay down the axe on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in Russia. But right now, lawmakers have passed a bill to legalize cryptocurrencies in their country.

However, there's one section of the bill states that Bitcoin cannot be used as payment method. They do legalize cryptocurrency trading though, but not sure when it comes to crowdfunding, ICOs, etc.

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/russian-lawmakers-finally-pass-countrys-major-crypto-bill

Any reactions so far guys?

A great decision I will say. ICO and crowdfunding are just scams and nothing else. If you have real caliber of starting a crypto related business then go for a usual public offer on stock exchange. These ico makers will never go for it because there is increased accountability on their money in that case which they are just not willing to provide. Most of the ICOs I have seen lately have altogether converted their business models into something which they never said in the white paper so all on all these ICOs make no sense at all. Unless you want tons of get rich quick schemes. Moreover expressly no country would say that you could use bitcoin as payment method. Because this will pose some serious issues to their legal tenders. It's good that they have legalized trading as atleast traders could get advantage of Bitcoin's price moves.

[20kevin20]

Better than completely banning it anyway. The article states the following though:

Some industry players are confident that the latest DFA bill should not be treated as the actual green light to crypto.

It looks like this is just the beginning of crypto regulation framework over there. While that may not be a green light for anything related to crypto, I would guess a ban is unlikely considering the way the bill sounds so far. According to a 2018 article mentioning the same bill, it is similar to what the USA's crypto regulation currently sounds like: KYC, defining cryptocurrencies and some requirements for crypto-related businesses.

While I don't agree with the KYC, looking at my own country it's much better when you have a framework to begin with instead of interpretable laws.

[kryptqnick]

Okay so months ago, we thought that they're all set to lay down the axe on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in Russia. But right now, lawmakers have passed a bill to legalize cryptocurrencies in their country.

However, there's one section of the bill states that Bitcoin cannot be used as payment method. They do legalize cryptocurrency trading though, but not sure when it comes to crowdfunding, ICOs, etc.

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/russian-lawmakers-finally-pass-countrys-major-crypto-bill

Any reactions so far guys?

I've read about it on a Russian website after seeing this thread, and it seems that not only cryptos are not allowed to be used as payment, but there's also a ban on advertising of such payment option. And it seems that the bill recognizes cryptos as property (which is coincidentally similar to the recent crypto policies of China). Moreover, all crypto owners have to officially declare their cryptos (and pay taxes, I think). So I'd say it's not great news for crypto users in Russia, and even more so for people there who treat Bitcoin as money.

[ShowOff]

Really strange decision - if they are scared that Bitcoin will undermine ruble, why allow trading? If they are not scared, why ban payments? Russia yet again is being paranoid for no reason.
This decision makes me think that there will be very serious surveillance around their legal exchanges, and if I were in Russia, I would prefer to trade only on decentralized exchanges.

Like with the recent news from China, it's a net positive, but it's not huge. Still, would be nice if the "at least not banned" trend will continue.

So far Indonesia has not given permission to bitcoin user to use it as a legal payment tool, but the government has given permission for bitcoin user to trade where bitcoin can now be traded legally on commodity exchange and every exchange operating in Indonesia must comply with government regulation . KYC become mandatory and I am very confident that the government in this way will benefit through taxes that must be paid by the bourse.

I think the same condition apply to Russia even though I am not sure what the real reason they are thinking. It is only speculated that they fear that if bitcoin is allowed as a means of payment, it will disrupt their countrys financial and economic system.

[hotmom]

I think this is just the first step. Perhaps the society in Russia is not ready for this yet, so the adoption will be gradual.

[thesmallgod]

They are technically telling you that they are not ready to get their currency holding a competition with any crypto especially when used as payment processor which also mean you will need to convert any crypto into fiat before spending. It is still OK than banning the coin. Maybe they are trying to safe business that might want to be accepting it as payment from losing part of their profit due to crypto market volatility.

[usekevin]

Okay so months ago, we thought that they're all set to lay down the axe on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in Russia. But right now, lawmakers have passed a bill to legalize cryptocurrencies in their country.

However, there's one section of the bill states that Bitcoin cannot be used as payment method. They do legalize cryptocurrency trading though, but not sure when it comes to crowdfunding, ICOs, etc.

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/russian-lawmakers-finally-pass-countrys-major-crypto-bill

Any reactions so far guys?

Legalisation is different and accepting as one of payment is different. Because legalising is to monitor the flow of virtual currency in their through the taxation method. But we can't be sure it will be accurately match and all the people who inverse in crypto currency will pay the tax for the trading and investment of their money. Accepting as a payment is the last step of this process. Once the law made, the people who do business accepted it as a payment option.

[Ucy]

Any reason why it should not be used as payment method?
Well, I think governments should really focus on making sure it is used as payment method in safe and right manner. This should be possible if Bitcoin is very safe to use.
By the way, no country controls Bitcoin alone. It does not have the name, symbols, signature etc of any particular country on it. It's a decentralized currency owned and controlled by people allover the world... more like how Gold, silver are "decentralized" .
It won't really be a good idea to tell people not to exchange gold or silver for goods and services especially as they aren't really owned by any particular country.
I think safe use of Bitcoin for payments should be the main focus.

[adzino]

Okay so months ago, we thought that they're all set to lay down the axe on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in Russia. But right now, lawmakers have passed a bill to legalize cryptocurrencies in their country.

However, there's one section of the bill states that Bitcoin cannot be used as payment method. They do legalize cryptocurrency trading though, but not sure when it comes to crowdfunding, ICOs, etc.

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/russian-lawmakers-finally-pass-countrys-major-crypto-bill

Any reactions so far guys?

Good they made it legal (i mean they don't even know what to do with this. At least they finally came to a stance). Making it illegal to make payments using bitcoin is understandable to be honest. I mean, they will be forced to convert it into fiat currency. This way the government won't have any issue tracking the users (since fiat conversion will probably require some sort of ID) and will probably add new rules so that they can even tax those people who converts it.