The Russian Finance Ministry announced it is drafting a bill to outlaw nationals using virtual currencies such as the Bitcoin as a currency.
“According to Article 27 of the Federal Law ‘On the Central Bank of the Russian Federation’ (Bank of Russia) the official Russian currency is ruble.” The announcement said. “The issuance of monetary surrogates in Russia is forbidden as well as the introduction of other monetary units. However, monetary surrogate has no standard definition in the Russian legislation.”
“?ryptocurrencies have no real value and their prices are determined due to speculations. So, there is a great risk that investors will lose their money,” the announcement continued.
The bill has yet to be officially presented, but could go into effect in 2015 if approved.
The ministry cited the use of cryptocurrencies for buying illegal goods and laundering money as the reason for the law.
The Russian Central Bank has already issued a warning that Russian law already prohibits “money substitutes,” and any involvement—purchase, exchange, mining, selling—will be prosecuted using laws that target money laundering and terrorist financing.
