Russia has no plans at this time to completely prohibit trading by its citizens even though cryptocurrency payments have been banned.
Alexey Moiseev, the deputy finance minister of the Russian Federation, said he believes Russian citizens will continue to be allowed to buy and use cryptocurrencies outside the country on foreign exchanges without the threat of legal action at home.
The deputy finance minister stated that lawmakers still need to properly define digital currencies and blockchain technology in Russia’s civil code. The government stated that accepting Bitcoin as an official currency could negatively impact the country’s financial and economic system.
Russia’s position stands in contrast to that of China, where financial and regulatory institutions have repeatedly issued anti-crypto statements and policies. Most recently, the People’s Bank of China declared that all crypto transactions in the country were illegal, and prior to that, miners in several provinces fled when faced with a crackdown on their operations.
However, certain Russian officials have claimed the use of a digital Ruble issued by the country’s central bank would not pose the same financial risks as BTC and other cryptocurrencies
