The Bank of Russia and the FSB have agreed to ban the use of cryptocurrencies as a means of payment

According to currently unverified information, the issuance and circulation of cryptocurrencies as a meansPayment in Russia may be prohibited. However, the FSB proposes to legalize the exchange of crypto assets through “specialized operators”.

The question of regulation of cryptocurrencies in Russiahas been discussed for a long time and to no avail, as it causes many disagreements between various departments. The Central Bank of the Russian Federation adheres to the position that cryptocurrencies can pose a danger to the economy, and therefore opposes their legalization. The FSB, on the contrary, believes that the ban on cryptocurrencies will contribute to the development of the shadow market, so it proposed adding special amendments to the bill “On Digital Financial Assets” aimed at combating money laundering using cryptocurrencies.

According to an article that appeared today,the authenticity of which has not been verified, with reference to Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Chernyshenko, a decision was made to ban the issuance of digital assets and their use as a means of payment. The FSB proposed a “softer” option - to prohibit payment for purchases with cryptocurrencies, but to allow the exchange of cryptocurrencies for other digital assets and fiat currencies, but only through “specialized operators.”

FSB believes that the bill should be introducedthe provision that all owners of digital assets will be required to be identified with such operators, even if they do not perform any trading operations, but only store cryptocurrencies “in the back box”. Failure to comply with the law may result in administrative, and possibly criminal liability.

Amendments to the bill will be made taking into accountarguments from the Central Bank and the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering, and these bodies also cannot come to a consensus on the regulation of digital currencies. According to State Duma deputy Anatoly Aksakov, it is for this reason that the law on DFA has not yet been adopted and is “in limbo,” although it was first introduced to the State Duma back in March 2018.

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