Putin Signs Bill Banning Digital Assets As Payments Into Law

Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, has signed a bill into law prohibiting digital financial assets as payments more than a month after it was introduced to the country’s lower chamber of Parliament.

iexclusivenews reports that in a Thursday update, the Russian State Duma noted that Putin signed a bill suspending certain parts of an existing federal law “on banks and banking activities,” effectively making it illegal for people to use cryptocurrencies to pay for goods and services.

This online news outlet understands that the “prohibition against the introduction of other monetary units or monetary surrogates on the territory of the Russian Federation” was stated in the first text of the bill on June 7.

Duma’s chair approved the draft law on June 8, and the Federation Council, the upper body of Parliament, passed the legislation on July 8 after amendments and other considerations.

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According to the Russian Federation’s Constitution, all bills must consent from both chambers before the president can sign them into law.

iexclusivenews Nigeria reported in June that the bill introduced the concept of an “electronic platform” — a financial platform, investment platform, or information system in which digital financial assets are issued.

Under the recently passed law, these platforms will likely be required to submit transactions and actions to the Russian central bank’s registry as part of the national payments system.

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Two more proposals pertaining to digital assets are now being debated in the Russian Parliament. One may control the operations of cryptocurrency miners in a nation by forcing them to adhere to a specific registration process in order to register as sole proprietors or self-employed.

Another, titled “on digital money,” suggested guidelines for businesses conducting transactions involving digital assets, such as licensing and disclosure of risks and data protection.