Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on Friday that bans paying for goods and services using crypto. The approved law prohibits the use of digital assets as forms of payment in Russia.

According to reports, the legislation will be prohibiting the acceptance or transfer of digital financial assets as consideration for performed works, transferred goods, or services rendered. Which is effectively banning the use of crypto or NFTs as a means of payment.

The bill was submitted in June by Anatoly Aksakov the head of the legislature’s Committee on Financial Markets, to the State of Duma, and was signed into law on Friday by Putin.
The new law also mandates crypto exchanges and providers to refuse transactions in which digital assets could be construed as a means of payment.

Crypto regulation has been a major topic for debate in the country in recent times as the Russian government has seen a lot of internal conflict on the issue. Various agencies have been at odds with each other on whether to regulate crypto or ban it outrightly. While the Central Bank of Russia had called for a crypto ban in January, the Ministry of Finance opposed it saying a regulation will be enough to protect the citizens.

This new law is set to take effect in 9 days.

There have been some speculations that sanctioned individuals or Russian companies might use crypto to escape the imposed sanctions after the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

But experts in the industry have warned that those who try to evade sanctions by using cryptocurrencies would be ill-served, as officials have proven savvy in using on-chain analytics to trace transactions. U.S. and EU bodies have even added specific crypto wallet addresses to sanction lists.

Featured image source: blockworks.co