Russian Ministry of Finance now “advises” using cryptocurrencies as legal tender? That sounds like an old story.

Crypto journalists have reported that the Russian Ministry of Finance pushes for tokens to be treated as legal tender. However, there’s no evidence whatsoever to back up these claims.

Related Readings | Russia To Legalize Crypto Payments, But Proposal Causes Internal Concerns

The confusion arose from the information of the media channel Kommersant, which said that it had obtained authentic details about the much-awaited crypto laws that, as per senior parliamentarians, State Duma may start discussion till the spring session. 

But the report by Kommersant never showed a point where it is mentioned that crypto could become a legal tender in Russia as El Salvador adopted BTC.

Russian Finance Ministry To Deny The Report

Rather than media report to legalize the crypto as a form of payment, the ministry explained that in such instances, such “digital currencies” are “not the monetary unit of the Russian Federation.”

Bitcoin has equal lawful status as the fiat United States Dollar possessed in El Salvador. If cryptocurrency is accepted as a form of payment in Russia, tokens such as Bitcoin would not be treated equally to fiat currency rubles.

Kommersant is a well-respected media outlet in Russia, but the finance ministry’s authorities have not confirmed the accuracy of the reports. However, two sources within the company with extensive expertise in crypto endorsed the information’s authenticity. Despite this, the ministry has not reacted to these speculations.

It was thought that the government had plans to make cryptocurrencies legal tender until recently. But in last week’s release, there was no point discussed adopting crypto as legal tender.

Instead, the Ministry of Finance has released a bill to provide much-needed regulations to cryptocurrency markets. The document details the procedures for transactions with digital currencies and their issuance.

The bill was stuck since February because the Central Bank established a policy to ban all the things in the shape of crypto mining, trading, and even ownership. So rather than serving existing cryptocurrencies, the bank is working out issuing a digital ruble.

Related Readings | Russia-Ukraine War: Crypto to The Rescue

In recent days, it has been widely reported before the Kommersant reports that both government agencies, Finance Ministry and Central Bank, agreed to outlaw the use of cryptocurrency as legal tender.

Russia Putting Brakes On Crypto 

Instead of crypto adaptation, the new law appears designed with complications so complicated that it could “ dampen the Russian public’s interest in crypto,” according to some business leaders who previously predicted this outcome of legislation recently proposed by the Russian Government.

The Russian government has announced that it will be limiting how much money retail investors can spend in the crypto space within a year. In addition, all exchanges and brokerages must also be based in Russia, where they’ll fall under the jurisdiction of the financial regulatory body.

In the last week’s bill release, it doesn’t seem that the Russian Finance Ministry is trying to make crypto legal tender.