The Deputy Finance Minister of the Russian Federation has now stated that the spread of bitcoin in Russia does not represent a threat the country’s financial ecosystem, at its current rate of adoption. As such, the plan to ban the cryptocurrency is now paused. Alexei Moiseev , the Deputy Finance Minister who has primarily spearheaded the Russian Finance Ministry’s intent to ban bitcoin beginning two years ago in 2014 , has now stated that the cryptocurrency isn’t a threat to Russia’s financial system. At the time, Moiseev deemed bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as “surrogate currencies” – a narrative that has stuck to this day – while stating that the law to ban bitcoin will be passed in 2014, or 2015, at the latest. Such a law has not come to pass. In recent comments reported by SputnikNews , Moiseev stated: All of this [bitcoin] does not pose much of a danger to the public, as it has not taken on a mass character that could pose a threat to our financial system right now. He then added: In the future, it could possibly emerge given that it is not regulated. The comments directly contradict those of Alexander Bastrykin, chairman of Russia’s Investigative Committee who has previously stated that bitcoin represents “ a real threat to the financial stability ” of Russia. The official then opined that the spread of bitcoin or money “surrogates” should be curbed. The Long Road to Quell Bitcoin Moiseev and the Ministry of Finance initially proposed a 4-year prison sentence for bitcoin users late last year in an effort to enforce a new amendment to the Criminal Code. In what could be seen as a move to bring brief respite, the Ministry then proposed a 2-year “corrective labor” sentence – a combination of penal dentention and […]
