Russia will never legalize cryptocurrency for settlements - the Ministry of Finance

Russia will never allow using cryptocurrencies as a means of payment for goods and services. According to Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev as cited by the local media outlet RNS.

He has no doubts that payments with digital assets will be permanently banned on the territory of the Russian Federation. 

"Ruble is our national currency and all settlements should be made in rubles," he said.

Speaking about cryptocurrency mining operations, the official noted that the authorities had dropped the idea of criminal prosecution for those activities. "It would be absolutely impossible to legally define a crime, so we decided to research the subject and then decide upon it", he explained.

Speaking about Libra, Moiseev noted that no one was going to create separate legislation for this coin, it would be governed by the general rules applicable to cryptocurrencies.

Meanwhile, ICOs will finally become legal, according to the deputy minister. Currently, there are a lot of discussions about the legal status of cryptocurrencies in Russia. Moiseev noted that digital assets might be regarded as foreign currencies. 

It means that the citizens will be able to buy, sell and store them, but the actual usage will be prohibited. He opposes the idea of creating a so-called white market for these assets, as it will eventually lead to chaos. 

Earlier, Moiseev mentioned that Russia might legalize buying and selling cryptocurrencies, while the settlements were out of the question.

Besides, the chairman of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market, Anatoly Aksakov, said last week that the bill on digital financial assets in the Russian Federation could be adopted by the end of July, but the authorities have not yet decided on the vector of market regulation.