Bitcoin Being Made As Legal Tender Will Only Bring Harm, Says Russian Government

Russia has no interest in making bitcoin the official currency of the country (Bitcoin.com)

JAKARTA – Recently, El Salvador has been under the spotlight of the world for making Bitcoin (BTC) the official means of payment. Contrary to El Salvador's stance, Russia insists that its country will not adopt Bitcoin as a legal currency.

Launching CoinTelegraph, the official representative of Russian President Valdimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, revealed that Russia has no interest in adopting Bitcoin as the country's official medium of exchange, as reported by local news agency RIA Novosti on Tuesday, September 7.

Peskov also believes that cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin will only bring harm to the country's economy and financial system. "Obviously, Russia is not ready for such a move," Peskov said.

The statement is in line with the member of the State Duma, Anatoly Aksakov who insisted on banning payments with cryptocurrencies in Russia. In August, he revealed that adopting Bitcoin as the country's official medium of exchange would amount to "destroying the financial system."

Regarding payments using cryptocurrencies, Russia has officially banned them in accordance with the crypto law, “On Digital Financial Assets”, which was passed in January 2021.

In the regulation, the government does not prohibit Russian citizens from buying and trading cryptocurrencies. However, in May 2021, a number of Russian lawmakers reportedly reconsidered regulations regarding the prohibition of payments with cryptocurrencies. They are working on amendments to allow crypto payments as a “contract medium”.