The world largest country by Land mass has taken a further step in cryptocurrency regulation by restricting Russian public officials from holding cryptos and digital assets from April. This came to being after a bill that required the officials to declare their crypto assets was signed a number of weeks ago in the country.
The country’s ministry of Labor and Social protection is said to have issued a letter to all civil servants in the country as regards their crypto portfolios. The letter stated specifically that they had up to 1st April to discard their various investments in cryptocurrency and digital assets respectively;
“Officials are obliged to dispose of digital financial assets issued in information systems organized in accordance with foreign law, as well as digital currency, regardless of the country of issue”.
See also: https://cryptotvplus.com/2021/01/whales-silently-purchase-btc-regardless-of-rumours-that-they-are-not-willing-to-stimulate-the-market/
The letter is said to also restrict the civil servants in the region from making use of any of the cryptocurrencies/digital assets. It also forbids usage as payment options.
This came briefly after the President of Russia, Vladmir Putin signed a decree that required the country officials to declare their crypto holdings including their names, that of their spouses as well as the children.
Russia was said to have signed a bill into law that prohibited the use of cryptocurrencies as from this year, 2021. The country is said to have had an history of being controversial with cryptocurrencies due to the rising utilization of cryptos for criminal activities and terrorism.
There was said to have been a proposed bill to allow Russian citizens hold Bitcoin in limited quantities in a report by CryptoTVPlus. The Bill proposed stiff punishment for any citizen that held above a certain quantity but it was rejected by the Government of the country. This could be very ironic for a country that its citizens find Bitcoin as a more appealing investment option than other numerous options available.
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