Russia has just added to the confusion surrounding its attitude towards cryptocurrency by introducing a bill that prohibits cryptocurrency as a payment method. In recent months, investors have seen Russian legislators and regulators attempt to fully integrate and institutionalize cryptocurrency. However, the lower parliament chamber is now taking away this hope by introducing this bill.

The country has also been working to make cryptocurrency a taxable financial asset and a tool for international trade. 

The bill was filed on Tuesday by Anatoly Aksakov,  the Financial Markets Committee Head of the Russian parliament’s lower chamber, and it plainly specifies that the use of digital assets for any financial operations, including payment for any goods or services, is prohibited.

“The ruble is the official monetary unit (currency) of the Russian Federation. The aforementioned article sets a prohibition against the introduction of other monetary units or monetary surrogates on the territory of the Russian Federation.” states the cover note of the Crypto Bill.

However, the bill has come after Minister of Industry and Trade of the Federation of Russia, Denis Manturov made a contradicting statement in May saying that, “Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies being legalized in Russia for payments was just a matter of time and would happen “sooner or later.”

The new bill would emphasize and formalize the prohibition and oblige DFA exchange managers to decline any transactions employing cryptocurrencies as a form of payment.

Additionally, it also mentions the concept of an electronic platform, which refers to platforms that deal with digital assets. The digital platforms would have to give up their data to the central bank.