The Russian Ministry of Finance (MinFin) has finalized a bill called "On Digital Currency" and sent it to the Russian government for approval into law. The draft federal law clarifies regulations related to cryptocurrency trading and mining.
On April 8, the Russian Ministry of Finance Announced the amendment and finalization of an upcoming crypto bill, providing regulatory clarity related to circulation, issuance, trading, mining, and other activities within the crypto market.
While unconfirmed reports of cryptocurrency legalization in Russia emerged earlier on April 16, the thriving cryptocurrency community on Twitter welcomed the announcement with open arms.
BREAKING: The Russian government and central bank have just reached an agreement on cryptocurrencies, according to Russia's Kommersant.
Both organizations will treat bitcoins and crypto assets as currencies.
— Pomp 🌪 (@APompliano) February 9, 2022
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao was also one of the first to acknowledge the move, given the numerous sanctions currently imposed against the nation.
When the dust settled, Crypto Twitter soon realized that they had been celebrating too soon and soon CZ and others removed tweets cheering crypto's legal status in Russia.
The rumor about the legalization of cryptocurrencies in Russia was sparked by a report by local Russian newspaper Kommersant, which reportedly got the final authentic version of the bill. According to local media, the bill recommended accepting the digital currency "as a means of payment that is not the monetary unit of the Russian Federation", which has yet to be approved as law by the Russian government.
While MinFin has finalized and shared the bill with the Russian government, an official announcement on its approval as law is still awaited with no known timeline.
The Kommersant report also highlighted that the bill recommends building a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency-related activities while sharing the foundation for registered operators.
On April 14, Sergei Katyrin, president of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, recommended working with African countries to carry out cross-border settlements in cryptocurrencies and central bank digital currencies (CBDC). In the announcement related to the finalized bill, the ministry revealed to have clarified the crypto regulations by considering the point of view of all other departments of the Russian government.
Related: Russia's Energy Chief Says He Would Accept Bitcoin for Oil and Gas
In a process to counter international sanctions and the resulting inflation, the president of the Russian Gas Society, Pavel Zavalny, hinted at the possibility of accepting Bitcoin (BTC) as payment for the export of oil and gas.
Explosive.
Russia now demands that Europe pay for gas in rubles.
Europe gets 40% of its gas from Russia. That is 200-800 million euros per day.
Putin is basically saying: do you want to play sanctions? Pay in rubles or freeze.
—Richard Medhurst (@richimedhurst) March 23, 2022
As Cointelegraph reported, Zavalny recommended accepting payments in Russian rubles, Chinese yuan, Turkish lira, or even Bitcoin (BTC) from "friendly countries." However, "hostile countries" could pay for their oil in rubles or gold.
