The Bank of Russia and the Federal Financial Monitoring Service of the Russian Federation (Rosfinmonitoring) are preparing a proposal to ban crypto payments, local news outlet Izvestia has reported citing sources.
According to it, the regulator has made this decision as it believes cryptocurrencies are mainly used for money laundering and other illegal activities.
Although cryptocurrencies are not considered legal in Russia at the moment, they are used to pay for products and services, as they are used to buy in some online shops and to pay freelancers.
Regulators believe it is necessary to develop a specific regulation to fight all illegal activities in the digital asset sector. There is no information available about the potential penalties for violating this rule.
The Bank of Russia has supported the ban, while the Rosfinmonitoring has assured it follows the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards for fighting money laundering.
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