Key facts:
Bitcoin is recognized as a digital currency, but not authorized for use in the payment of daily life.
Until the moment, there are no legal consequences for operating with cryptocurrencies in Russia.
Today Vladimir Putin gave final approval to the Act on Financial Assets to Digital, which will regulate the circulation of crypto assets of all types in Russia and will enter into force on 1 January 2021.
As a result of the approval of this act, from next year it will be illegal to pay for goods and services with crypto assets or cryptocurrencies within the Russian Federation.
In the body of the law defines two fundamental terms. In the first place, are the “digital assets”, where are included the currencies anchored to the dollar as a Tether and the tokens CKD-20 of Ethereum. According to the law, digital assets are “the right to a monetary claim or an instrument to exercise a right on certain values or actions”.
For the issue of “digital assets” will be required to provide information to the Central Bank of Russian, who will have knowledge about the type and extent of the rights granted by the digital asset and will be the one who makes it available to qualified investors.
The law also defines the “digital currencies”, including bitcoin. The text indicates that they “are a set of electronic data that can be adapted to investment”. But the law is expressed clearly that these coins are not recognized as a unit of currency within the Russian Federation or of foreign state, so that can’t be used to pay for goods and services everyday.
The adoption of the law on the day of today, is the last step after the approval of the legislators of the lower house of the Russian Parliament, a fact that was reported by Breaking News last week.
Experts and enthusiasts russians warn that this law will delay the development of the industry of the cryptocurrencies in the country. For the moment, the document does not say anything about criminal liability or administrative operate with cryptocurrencies, but already you are ahead of steps to make a law to get more detailed about it.