The Ministry of Finance in Russia, or the Russian FinMin, is not quite beating its drum to ban bitcoin anymore, going by recent remarks of deputy finance minister Alexey Moiseev.
Instead, a new amendment to the infamous bitcoin ban bill will allow for the purchase of the cryptocurrency in the country, which can then be used and sold in other countries.
Moiseev made the revelation in an interview to Russian publication Rossiyskaya Gazeta .
The amendment is the latest one among many with the much-publicized bill that was seeking to ban all cryptocurrencies and enforce criminal charges to bitcoiners and those who adopted or mined the cryptocurrency. Indeed, one of the earlier versions of the bill saw the Russian Finance Ministry seek up to a 7-year prison term for bitcoin adopters. Blockchain’s Potential Helps Bitcoin
The latest amendment is certain to help ease regulatory oversight on bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in Russia. The financial regulatory authority is changing its stance because of how blockchain and bitcoin and interwoven, with the decision coming at a time when Russian authorities – like the country’s central bank – are actively engaging in blockchain development.
While blockchain gains favor, it is unreasonable to criminalize bitcoin adoption, according to Moiseev. He sees distributed ledgers as a “data storage” solution.
“We want to develop blockchain technology, which is based on bitcoin,” he stated. “It is needed for data storage. For example, we have now concluded an experiment based on blockchain technology for the storage of securities information.”
He added: But blockchain technology works [in a way that] Bitcoin appears as a byproduct. It is therefore clear that we need to exclude operators from the liability of emitting bitcoins, so that they do not face the risk of being prosecuted. Bitcoin Usage Will Still Be Outlawed in Russia The Russian […]
