According to Russian business media outlet RBC, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on Friday that expressly forbids the use of digital financial assets (DFA) and digital utility rights (DPR) as a form of payment in Russia. The regulation will take effect in 10 days after official publication in the government's gazette.
The now approved law was initially submitted on June 7 to the State Duma (the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia) by the chairman of the financial market committee Anatoly Aksakov and adopted a month later.
The document reads: “It is prohibited to transfer or accept digital financial assets as a consideration for transferred goods, performed works, rendered services, as well as in any other way that allows one to assume payment for goods (works, services) by a digital financial asset, except as otherwise provided by federal laws.”
The law restricts using DFA as payment for goods and services and requires DFA exchange operators to reject transactions where it is conceivable to use such assets as a substitute for the ruble.
According to the RBC story, Russian legal experts have already called attention to some issues with the document's exemption provision.
Efim Kazantsev, an attorney and teacher at Moscow Digital School, challenged the legislation when it was originally introduced in June, saying, “For the mass user, the regulatory risks embodied in the draft law will make Russian CFAs and utility tokens an unattractive asset,” effectively making the ruble the only form of currency in Russia.
At the end of May, the prior revisions to the proposed law "On Digital Currency" were made available for review. While the average Russian citizen may not use DFAs as a form of digital payment, amendments made by the Ministry of Finance now permit the usage of virtual currencies to fund international trade.
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