According to Denis Manturov, Minister of Industry and Trade in Russia, crypto payments in the country will be legalized soon.
Throughout 2022, the government of the country will investigate various crypto adoption strategies, although no definitive policy on digital asset payments has been finalized. However, Russia’s finance ministry supported its legality in its April bill “On Digital Currency.”
Manturov was questioned about authorized crypto payments at the New Horizon educational forum this week, according to a translation of a May 19 story from local media site TASS.
“I think so. The question is when this will happen, how it will happen and how it will be regulated. Now both the Central Bank and the government are actively engaged in this. But everyone is inclined to understand that this is a trend of the time, and sooner or later in one format or another, it will be carried out.”
“However, it must be lawful and correct in accordance with the laws that will be established,” he stressed.
Until recently, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) and the Ministry of Finance held diametrically opposed views on crypto regulation, with the central bank seeking an outright ban and the ministry seeking taxes control.
The CBR recommended a blanket ban on domestic crypto trade and mining as recently as January, citing potential “financial stability risks” related with the sector.
Following the ongoing assault of Ukraine, CBR confessed last month that it had taken a too confrontational approach toward cryptocurrency, which may have hampered the sector’s growth.
Elvira Nabiullina, the bank’s governor, stated that the multiple economic sanctions imposed on the country were a major factor in the country’s anti-crypto views changing, as it now seeks to get the local digital asset market into a “functioning state.”
