Russia banned the use of digital currency payments in July of last year, and the Kremlin says the law isn’t about to be overturned anytime soon. A representative from the country’s top office reiterated that Russia is not ready to give digital currencies legal tender even though Central American countries are making great strides in this direction.

Russia’s legislature, known as the State Duma, passed a law titled “On Digital Financial Assets” in 2020, finally giving digital currencies legal status in the country. However, on the other hand, it banned the use of digital currencies as a means of payment.

And as a public press agency RIA Novosti now reports, the Kremlin is not about to change its mind. Dmitry Peskov told the outlet that Russia was not ready to integrate digital currencies into its payment systems, let alone recognize them as legal tender.

Peskov is the official representative of Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to him, giving this status to digital currencies like BTC or ETH only serves to endanger the financial system, with little benefit.

He told reporters: “It is clear that Russia is not ready for such measures.”

Peskov has in the past referred to BTC as a quasi-money, placing it in the same category as other highly liquid assets such as gold certificates and bonds.

Russia’s digital currency space is still struggling to find its feet. As it is, owning or trading digital currencies is not illegal until it is used for payments. Some lawmakers have tried to change the law banning digital currency payments, but nothing has been done yet.

Russia’s central bank, on the other hand, has been entirely behind a digital ruble.

“I think it is [digital ruble] the future of our financial system because it correlates with this development of the digital economy, ”said Elvira Nabiullina, Governor of the Bank of Russia. Recount CNBC in June. “We are going to proceed step by step, because it is [a] very difficult project, technological, legal….

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