Russian parliament member has proposed a bill to ban the use of digital assets as a payment option for any form of goods and services rendered.
Anatoliy Aksakov, the head of the Financial Markets Committee of the Russian parliament’s lower house, the State Duma, proposed a bill on Tuesday, June 7, prohibiting the use of “digital financial assets” (DFA) to pay for any form of products or services. As stated on the cover note:
“The ruble is the Russian Federation’s official monetary unit (currency).” The aforementioned clause prohibits the introduction of any other monetary units or monetary surrogates on Russian Federation territory.”
The measure references existing legislation that does not specifically prohibit the use of DFAs as a payment method, but such transactions are nevertheless illegal in the country.
The new document would formalize the restriction and require DFA exchange managers to refuse any transactions involving the use of cryptocurrency as a monetary substitute.
The bill also specified an “electronic platform,” which is roughly defined as a financial platform, investment platform, or information system that issues digital financial assets.
Electronic platforms would be recognized as national payment system subjects and have to register with the central bank. Every significant DFA operation, including emission, circulation, exchange, and trade, would have its own registry.
The current law on digital financial activities took effect in 2021. The State Duma passed the first reading of the tax reforms on DFAs in May 2022.
In other news, two major laws are still making their way through the legislative process: a bill “On digital currency” would establish a regulatory framework for crypto in general, and a bill “On mining in the Russian Federation” would establish standards for miners.
