On July 6, the State Duma of the Russian Federation приняла закон, which directly bans payments for goods and services using digital financial assets (DFA) and utilitarian digital rights.
To implement the restrictions, DFA exchange operators must refuse transactions where such assets could be used as a means of payment.
Token issuers and operators of investment platforms must make it impossible for users to enter or modify records of DFAs when conducting transactions with them.
However, the ban on payments in utility tokens may be lifted in “cases provided by federal laws,” and also if the counter-provision is a thing the transfer of which was originally contemplated by the contract for the acquisition of this utilitarian digital right.
The law classifies operators of electronic platforms as participants in the national payment system, and they must be listed in the Bank of Russia’s register.
The ban is expected to eliminate the risks of using DFAs as money substitutes.
The law offers more detailed legal regulation of the emerging market for blockchain-based securities and the issue of utilitarian tokens on investment platforms, GMT Legal managing partner Andrey Tugarin said in ForkLog’s commentary.
“The document imposes requirements on the operators of the information system where DFA transactions take place. They concern the charter capital, the size of the operator’s net assets and others. Similar rules are provided for investment platforms issuing utilitarian digital rights,” the lawyer noted.
One of the main differences between DFAs and digital currencies is the presence of an issuer. The holder of tokens has the right to require performance of obligations from the obligated party analogously to securities on the stock market.
“Neither DFAs nor utilitarian digital rights are cryptocurrencies. It can be expected that the adoption of this law will not significantly change the crypto industry in the country,” added Tugarin.
As noted in June, Russia enacted a law on the taxation of DFAs. The document does not affect cryptocurrencies.
Earlier in the same month, lawmakers submitted for consideration a bill providing administrative liability for illegal issuance and exchange of DFA.
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