MOSCOW, September 12 (RAPSI) – The Russian State Duma may adopt a law banning the use of digital currency, which the Finance Ministry is drafting, this fall.

However, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseyev told journalists it was more likely that the law would be adopted next spring.

On September 12, the Finance Ministry published a notification on the drafting of a law to ban the issuance and use of electronic surrogates for currency and to introduce administrative or criminal responsibility for the issuance of and transactions involving digital currency.

The issuance of digital currency is prohibited in Russia, but the national legislation does not include a definition thereof. The Finance Ministry believes that the shadow economy uses virtual currencies because they are not controlled by the national authorities.

The most successful and perhaps the most controversial virtual currency scheme is bitcoin. Used in many countries, it can compete with official currencies, including the euro and US dollar. However, bitcoin is not secured by any assets or tied to any world currency. Its exchange rate is determined by market supply and demand.

Bitcoin is a decentralized virtual currency, created by computer users worldwide through a complex programming procedure called mining. Bitcoin’s status varies from acceptance to restriction as some governments are concerned about risks involved with bitcoin use.