The Ministry
of Finance (MinFin) of Russia finalized a draft bill named “On Digital
Currency” and has sent it to the Russian government for approval to be
passed as law. The draft of the federal law clarifies regulations
related to the trading and mining of cryptocurrencies. 

On Apr. 8, Russia’s finance ministry announced
the amendment and finalization of an impending crypto bill, which
provides regulatory clarity related to the circulation, issuance,
trading, mining and other activities within the crypto market. 

While
unconfirmed reports of Russia legalizing cryptocurrency surfaced early
Apr 16, the thriving crypto community on Twitter welcomed the
announcement with arms wide open. 

Binance
CEO Changpeng Zhao was also one of the first to acknowledge the move,
given the numerous sanctions currently levied against the nation. 

As
the dust settled, Crypto Twitter soon realized that they’ve been
celebrating just a little too early and soon, CZ and others deleted the
tweets cheering for crypto’s legal status in Russia.

The buzz around Russia legalizing crypto was sparked by a report from local Russian daily newspaper Kommersant, who reportedly
got their hands on the authentic final version of the draft law.
According to the local media, the bill recommended accepting digital
currency "as a means of payment that is not the monetary unit of the
Russian Federation," which is yet to be passed as law by the Russian
government.

While MinFin finalized and shared the draft bill with
the Russian government, an official announcement regarding its approval
as the law is still awaited with no known timeline. 

Kommersant’s
report also highlighted that the bill recommends building a regulatory
framework for crypto-related activities while sharing the groundwork for
registered operators.

On Apr. 14, Sergei Katyrin, President of
Russia’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, recommended collaborating
with African countries for conducting cross-border settlements in crypto and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
In the announcement related to the finalized bill, the ministry
disclosed to have clarified crypto regulations while considering the
viewpoint of all other departments of the Russian government.

Related: Russia‘s energy chief says it would accept Bitcoin for oil and gas

In
an ongoing to counter the international sanctions and the resultant
inflation, president of the Russian Gas Society Pavel Zavalny hinted at
the possibility of accepting Bitcoin (BTC) as payment for exporting oil and gas. 

As
Cointelegraph reported, Zavalny recommended taking payments in Russian
rubles, Chinese yuan, Turkish lira, or even Bitcoin (BTC) from “friendly
countries.” However, “unfriendly countries” could pay for their oil in
rubles or gold.

source link :  https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-twitter-reacts-as-russian-govt-reviews-finalized-crypto-bill