As part of the preparation of a draft law on the circulation of cryptocurrencies in the Russian Federation, the idea of allowing the sale and purchase, but not calculations in them, is discussed. The final decision on this issue has not yet been made, said Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseyev.
“In terms of cryptocurrency, the last question that remained is literally today we had a meeting with the participation of both the Central Bank and the FSB. In fact, we now have a question of determining how much a cryptocurrency can be used. There range from prohibition to the possibility of purchase. As a foreign currency: you can buy and sell, but you can not pay with it. After the political decision on this issue is taken, we will have the responsibility, ”the deputy minister said.
The bill on digital financial assets, which was a ban on the use of cryptocurrency as a means of payment in the Russian Federation, was adopted by the State Duma in the first reading on May 22, 2018. In preparation for the second reading, the definition of cryptocurrency was replaced with “digital operational signs”.
The head of the Duma Financial Market Committee, Anatoly Aksakov, called the introduction of this concept a compromise solution and noted that, according to FATF recommendations, Russia should adopt a bill on the circulation of cryptocurrency before the end of 2019, since this tool is also used to launder criminal proceeds.
The bill was planned to be considered in the second reading at the plenary session of the State Duma on March 19, but the issue was postponed.
At the same time, at the end of May, the head of the Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina reported that the regulator is still against the launch of cryptocurrency in the Russian Federation, but is ready to study the project of cryptocurrency secured by gold (stablecoin), if this is not a money surrogate.
