Russia: Putin signs law banning cryptocurrency payments
In Russia, payments with cryptocurrencies or NFTs are to be banned in the future. President Putin signed a corresponding law on Friday.
In the future, people in Russia will not be allowed to pay with digital currencies. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a corresponding law on Friday, reports Engadget. Accordingly, the use of cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFT) to pay for goods and services is prohibited from July 25th. forbidden.
Use of cryptocurrencies prohibited
The law reportedly prohibits “the transfer or acceptance of digital financial assets in consideration for goods transferred, works performed, and services rendered, as well as any other use that enables payment for goods (work, service) by digital financial assets, unless dated unless otherwise provided by law”. This practically rules out the use of cryptocurrencies and NFTs as a means of payment.
The law, signed by Putin on Friday, also requires cryptocurrency exchanges and providers to refuse transactions in which digital assets could be construed as payment, Protocol reports. According to the report, the law was submitted to the State Duma in June and is due to take effect on July 25. come into effect. However, Russians can still invest in cryptocurrencies and probably continue to mine them in the future, Engadget reports, citing Decrypt.
Prohibition and Control of Cryptocurrencies
The Russian central bank already called for a general trading ban on cryptocurrencies earlier this year. According to an analysis report, the reason was a comparison with a fraudulent Ponzi scheme and a possible use for illegal activities as well as the danger for the national currency. The Ministry of Finance opposed the crypto ban at the time, stating that regulation to protect citizens was sufficient.
EU bodies agreed last month that crypto asset transfers will be fully tracked from the first euro. This is intended to make it more difficult for criminals to misuse cryptocurrencies for their purposes.
Means of payment and sanction instrument
In the course of gas deliveries and the Ukraine war, the chairman of the Russian Energy Commission declared at the end of March that payments in Bitcoin were also accepted from “friendly states” – it is not known at this point in time whether the new law will continue to provide for this payment. Putin had previously announced that in future he would only accept the national currency ruble from “unfriendly countries” for payment for oil and gas.
At a meeting of EU finance and economy ministers in early March, French finance minister Bruno Le Maire announced measures to prevent Russia from using cryptocurrencies to circumvent imposed financial sanctions. In the same month, the Ukrainian government asked cryptocurrency exchanges to block addresses of Russian users. However, the demand was criticized because innocent users would also be affected.
(bme)
