Provision Allowing Cryptocurrency Payments in Foreign Trade Added to Russian Bill – Regulation Bitcoin News

A proposal to permit companies to use cryptocurrency in cross-border settlements has made its way to a draft law designed to regulate Russia’s crypto space this year. A press release claims that the Finance Ministry has made a series of changes to the law it had been working on for the last few months.

International Coin payments can be made in Russia by changing the Cryptocurrency bill

The Russian Ministry of Finance has revised its draft law “On Digital Currency” to reflect various suggestions by other government departments and agencies, the business daily Vedomosti unveiled, quoting government sources. The amendments have been coordinated with the ministries of economy, digital development, internal affairs, the Federal Tax Service, and Russia’s financial watchdog, Rosfinmonitoring.

The one major institution missing from that list is the Central Bank of Russia, which remains opposed to any legalization of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and respectively disagrees with the Minfin’s regulatory concept which aims to establish a legal market for digital assets. The ministry’s legislation was first submitted to the federal government in February.

Russian authorities have come to a consensus that cryptocurrency shouldn’t be considered legal tender. The law “On Digital Currencies” bans the use of crypto assets as a means of payment but suggests recognizing them as an investment tool.

Vedomosti said that a new provision in the revised regulations would permit Russian legal entities as well as individual entrepreneurs to use cryptocurrency for payment with foreign counterparties. The news comes after the Interfax news agency reported earlier that the finance ministry is considering this option as Russia’s access to the traditional payment channels is limited by western sanctions imposed over the war in Ukraine.

A ban on advertising crypto trading platforms which aren’t licensed in Russia is one of the many other provisions in the amended bill. The bill also proposes that authorized exchanges be required to maintain information regarding cryptocurrency holders, their transactions and provide this information to Russian law enforcement. Customers who have been verified as authentic will only be allowed to purchase and sell cryptocurrency through Russian banks.

What do you think Moscow will allow Russian companies using cryptocurrencies for their international trade activities? Please leave your feedback in the comment section.

Lubomir Tassav

Lubomir Tassev is a journalist from tech-savvy Eastern Europe who likes Hitchens’s quote: “Being a writer is what I am, rather than what I do.” Besides crypto, blockchain and fintech, international politics and economics are two other sources of inspiration.