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After China recently introduced a ban on all crypto transactions and operations other than simple ownership of the coins, many feared that Russia might be the next one to do the same. However, the country’s Deputy Finance Minister, Alexei Moiseev, recently revealed to reporters that the government has no plans to mirror China’s move.
In fact, he said that citizens are and will be to buy digital assets and use crypto wallets on foreign exchanges. However, that doesn’t mean that Russia will revoke the limitations that are already in place. In other words, cryptocurrencies are still not allowed to be used for payments in the country.
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Moiseev confirmed that crypto settlements are still prohibited and that things are unlikely to change in the near future. At least, there are no plans to make any changes for the time being.
Russia is not ready to make cryptocurrencies legal tender
Russia’s own ban on crypto payments came over a year ago, in July 2020. Back then, the country’s lawmakers passed a law that brought some regulatory clarity to the local crypto industry. Essentially, it defined the legal status of digital currencies, but it prohibited their use for conducting payments.
The country’s Deputy Finance Minister was not the only one to say that crypto payments are not coming anytime soon. Only about a month ago, Dmitry Peskov — the spokesperson for Kremlin — said that the country is not ready to allow Bitcoin as legal tender.
Moiseev added that adopting crypto payments would threaten the country’s financial sovereignty, as it would become extremely challenging to control the money supply inside the country.
For the time being, the Russian approach definitely beats China’s, as the country recently banned all crypto transactions, and it even made it illegal to use foreign exchanges. Crypto miners were already being forced out of the country due to similar laws, and now, even exchanges like Huobi, KuCoin, and others started denying services to Chinese users.