A bill prepared by Russia’s Ministry of Finance targeting the creation and circulation of so-called money surrogates, a classification that would include digital currencies like Bitcoin, has been at least temporarily withdrawn from consideration following comments from the country’s Justice Ministry.
As reported by regional news source RNS, the bill – popularly known as the “Russian Bitcoin ban” – received some negative feedback after the Justice Ministry is said to have objected to the bill on the grounds that its comments were not incorporated. The national legislature, the Duma, has been deliberating the bill since earlier this year.
The Russian Ministry of Finance, which oversees policy and legislation for the industry, has repeatedly indicated its opposition against allowing the use of digital currencies as an alternative to government-issued money, although they have clarified that blockchain applications of the technology are not viewed so harshly.
The Ministry of Justice in Russia has, once again, not agreed to a draft bill put forth by the Finance Ministry seeking to ban Bitcoin and introduce criminal liabilities to those who adopt, transact or mine the cryptocurrency.
The Russian Ministry of Justice has disagreed with the Bitcoin bill prepared by the Ministry of Justice, despite the bill being the second version of the draft, due to be entered into the State Duma – the lower chamber of the Russian Parliament.
With the bill, the Finance Ministry also proposes that the power of investigation in cases of exchange of cryptocurrency for rubles lay squarely in the hands of the Investigative Committee of Russia. As yet, a consensus on the probability that the law will pass could not be determined.
