The bill “On Digital Currency,” meant to comprehensively regulate crypto transactions in Russia, will be a “tough” law, according to the head of the State Duma Financial Market Committee. The legislation is yet to be finalized and will not be reviewed by lawmakers in the near future, Anatoly Aksakov revealed in an interview, despite Bank of Russia’s decision to drop its opposition to crypto payments, at least when they facilitate Russia’s foreign trade amid sanctions.
The lawmaker noted that the U.S. State Department has started clamping down on the crypto space, with the presumption that bitcoin is being used to circumvent sanctions against Russia. “There are suspicions that the American intelligence services largely control this market, so there is no desire to fall under their invisible or visible eye when carrying out financial transactions,” Aksakov added.
Russian officials have been working on the legislation in the past few months with most institutions supporting the regulatory approach proposed by the Ministry of Finance, which favors legalization under strict government control of crypto-related activities such as trading and mining, while prohibiting the use of bitcoin and the like in payments.
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