A new Russian law banning anonymous fiat deposits in e-pay wallets like PayPal may have an effect on crypto users, legal experts in the country have warned.
A new law governing digital payment systems came into force in Russia on August 3. The law forces operators such as PayPal and domestic rivals Yandex.Money, QIWI and WebMoney to block their customers from topping up their accounts anonymously. Many Russians have used payment terminals and cellphone operator-provided platforms to top up digital wallets.
Moscow said it has introduced the law in an effort to fight the financing of terrorism, money laundering, and drug trafficking.
But per RBC, although the new law makes no direct mention of crypto or crypto exchanges, experts said that ripple effects for the industry are “likely.”
The media outlet quoted Dmitry Kirillov, a senior lawyer at legal firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (Russia) and a law lecturer at the Moscow Digital School, as stating that crypto exchanges remain “outside of the new regulations and are not subject to new restrictions.”
However, Kirillov noted that people who buy crypto assets though exchanges using ATMs will likely be hit.
He claimed that Russian banks will start looking closely at cash deposits made via ATMs and electronic payment systems.
The lawyer said,
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