There was very bad news for bitcoin that was just released. It seems that Russia is going to pass a law that will officially make trading and owning bitcoin illegal in the country of Russia. The law has not been passed as of yet. However, it definitely looks like it is moving in that direction. There are people very high up in the Russian government who do not want bitcoin to be legal because of the potential for people to use it to launder money and commit other criminal offenses. This has also been a concern for many other countries around the world.
India talked openly about banning bitcoin for a very long time. However, they recently passed legislation that will allow bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to be traded in the country for the foreseeable future. This was thought to be an event that would trigger a huge increase in the value of bitcoin. However, that was not the case. The panic created by the coronavirus crisis caused the entire bitcoin market to go into the tank. Russia making bitcoin and all other forms of cryptocurrency illegal would be a devastating blow. However, there are many people who are remaining positive because of the fact that Russia might reverse its stance. Only time will tell how this plays out.
China made the decision to issue a complete ban on all cryptocurrencies three years ago. That hurt the industry because China has the number two economy on the planet. However, bitcoin has been able to survive and thrive despite China making it illegal to trade it. Russia also making it illegal will not destroy it. However, it will also not help it. The reason that it took Russia so long to make bitcoin illegal is because politicians thought that cryptocurrencies were a fad and they would go away on their own. They see that is clearly not going to happen. Therefore, they had to write new legislation banning it.
The banks in Russia were clearly against the idea of bitcoin from the beginning. They want the ruble to be the only form of currency in Russia. The various banks in Russia have a lot of influence over the politicians in the country. They can dictate the legislation that gets passed. Therefore, it was unlikely for bitcoin to be legalized in Russia once the banks in the country came out against it.
