Russia's Bitcoin ban is about to take effect, and the deputy finance minister plans to amend the bill to define it as a foreign currency

Russian Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev said in an interview that Russia's financial regulator intends to introduce a bill that will completely ban the domestic use of Bitcoin, but the Ministry of Finance plans to add some supplementary clauses to define Bitcoin as a foreign currency .

Although the Russian Central Bank has always been interested in digital currency technologies such as Bitcoin, Moiseev still said that there are still uncertainties in blockchain technology. In addition, the ruble should always dominate the national economy. Therefore, Russia is about to introduce a law to prohibit people from buying and selling Bitcoin. Any citizen who buys and sells Bitcoin privately will be subject to criminal penalties.

The Ministry of Finance still supports the bill because it is in line with the spirit of the constitution - always ensuring the ruble's dominant position in the country's economy.

However, Moiseev suggested that the bill could be amended to define Bitcoin as a foreign currency, which would make it legal to use Bitcoin in certain circumstances.

Can Russian citizens have Bitcoin wallets in other countries? Can they trade Bitcoin abroad? Why not? We plan to amend the law to allow Russian citizens to operate cryptocurrencies in foreign currencies, allowing them to freely buy and sell Bitcoin abroad.

Moiseev said that Russian citizens can still use Bitcoin in the country (the bill has not yet come into effect). The purpose of the bill is not to restrict the development of blockchain technology, but to consolidate the status of the ruble.

He said the revised bill would be submitted to the House of Commons by the end of the year.