Russia reportedly plans to institute a wide-ranging crypto ban in September.
Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market, says the country plans to prohibit “organizing the circulation of cryptocurrencies,” according to the National News Service, a Russian media agency.
“We are talking about a ban on transactions with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Digital financial assets issued in Russian jurisdiction, digital rubles, will be allowed. The need for a ban is due to the fact that today cryptocurrency is a quasi-currency that replaces the ruble in the country. But only the Russian ruble fulfills the mission of a monetary unit, which is why this decision was made. From September 1st, the ban will be introduced.”
News of the upcoming crypto ban surfaces as Russia has been trialing a new central bank digital currency (CBDC).
Russian President Vladimir Putin greenlit the launch of digital ruble pilot program last summer, and Olga Skorobogatova, first deputy chairman of the Bank of Russia, told Forbes at the time that widespread adoption of the CBDC could materialize as soon as 2025.
Skorobogatova told the Russian news agency Interfax in March that the Bank of Russia had processed around 25,000 digital ruble transactions.
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