Russia is allegedly preparing a ban on the use of cryptocurrencies to pay for goods and services. A report from Izvestia on Nov. 29 cites several sources allegedly familiar with ongoing discussions at the country's central bank, financial regulator and Ministry of Finance in support of a ban.

At present, cryptocurrencies can be used for e-commerce and many Russian freelancers, including programmers, designers and copywriters, agree to receive their salaries in Bitcoin or Ether, Vladislav Antonov told Izvestia. If Izvestia's sources are correct, Russian regulators think a ban is necessary to prevent cryptocurrencies from being used as payment, citing their concerns about crime. The report refers to comments from Alexey Yakovlev, deputy head of the banking regulation department of the Ministry of Finance, who reportedly reaffirmed at a recent conference on crypto-economics, "We do not see any basis for cryptocurrencies to be used as a means of payment." "If a decision is made to ban cryptocurrencies as a means of payment at the level of legislation, we consider it appropriate to support this position." Due to the difficulties of enforcement, some industry representatives reportedly believe the ban will be limited to a series of "Demonstration cases" intended to dissuade the public from flouting the law.