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 issue and circulation of cryptocurrencies as a means Payment in Russia may be prohibited. However, the FSB proposes to legalize the exchange of crypto assets through “specialized operators”.

The issue of cryptocurrency regulation in RussiaIt has been discussed for a long time and to no avail, since it causes a lot of disagreement between various departments. The Central Bank of the Russian Federation holds the position that cryptocurrencies can be a danger to the economy, therefore, opposes their legalization. The FSB, on the contrary, believes that the ban on cryptocurrencies will contribute to the development of the shadow market, therefore, it suggested adding special amendments to the draft law “On digital financial assets” aimed at combating money laundering with the help of cryptocurrencies.

According to an article that appeared today,the reliability of which has not been verified, with reference to the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Chernyshenko, it was decided to ban the issuance of digital assets and their use as a means of payment. The FSB has proposed a more “soft” option - to prohibit the payment of purchases by 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 accountthe arguments of the Central Bank and the Group for the development of financial measures to combat money laundering, and these authorities also cannot come to a common opinion on the regulation of digital currencies. According to State Duma deputy Anatoly Aksakov, it is for this reason that the CFA law has not yet been adopted and is “in limbo,” although it was first submitted to the State Duma in March 2018.