Here’s Why Russia Has Issued a New ‘Crypto Payments Ban’

cryptonews.com:

Vladimir Putin, the president of the aggressor state of Russia, has signed a new law that will ban the use of cryptoassets and other “digital assets” in the payments space – even though crypto pay is already illegal in the country.

The use of cryptocurrencies as a means of payment was prohibited in January 2021, when Law 259-FZ (which passed the State Duma in mid-2020) was officially adopted in Russia.

The new law, which comes into force at the end of this month, does little but reinforce Law 259-FZ. It does, however, contain more detail and does away with some of the sometimes confusing and vague terminology used in the 2021 law.

The outlawing of crypto payments is the only crypto-related point upon which the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank actually agree. The ministry, which has created a bill aimed at regulating crypto, would like to legalize the industry, while the Central Bank favors a total ban. Lawmakers will hope that now that the ban on crypto payments has been reinforced, the two parties will hurry up and reach a compromise on crypto policy.

The new law also makes specific mention of security tokens and utility tokens, which are expressly outlawed as a means of payment. It adds that no “goods, performed works, or services rendered” can be exchanged for cryptoassets or other forms of digital payment.

A leading Russian crypto blog channel named SelfInvestorz noted in a post that “experts agree that the new law will not have a significant impact on the market,” as crypto payments is a very small niche in Russia. Few if any Russian companies have pursued crypto payments-related initiatives.

The blogger added that the law will simply “strengthen the role of the ruble as the only legal means of payment” in Russia.