Russia To Introduce Laws Regarding the Confiscation of Crypto Assets

Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Igor Krasnov said that Russian authorities are preparing legislative amendments to the confiscation of illegal digital assets by law enforcement agencies, according to TASS on July 7.

Speaking at the conference in St. Petersburg on Wednesday, Krasnov stated that:

"A serious challenge is the criminal use of cryptocurrencies in our country."

The authority indicated that criminals use cryptocurrency to carry out a series of corruption and bribery and other illegal and criminal activities.

Krasnov stated that:

"The latency of these criminal acts has recently been aggravated by the use of crypto assets as bribes, the performance of cryptocurrency exchange operations as a way to launder stolen budget funds."

Some laws are not applicable to control cryptocurrency-related criminals, which are more difficult to trace than legal currency. The Russian government has introduced the first law to regulate digital assets last year and deemed their taxable property. Furthermore, Russian public servants have been banned from owning crypto starting this year.

The government now requires to implement more "restrictive measures" and legal provisions related to confiscation. Currently, the administration is actively proceeding with criminal and criminal procedure legislation.

As early as September last year, Russia’s Ministry of Finance has issued an amendment to its digital currency and cryptocurrency regulations. The Russian finance ministry proposes to obligate exchanges and crypto investors to report digital currency transfers to the tax authority.

As early as 2020, Mikhail Mishustin, Russia Prime Minister, once proposed that cryptocurrencies be regulated. During a Russian government strategy meeting to stem the spread of COVID-19, Mishustin requested other cryptocurrencies and digital assets and asserted the need to advance regulation of this market in a civilised manner.