Russia’s General Prosecutor Wants Cryptocurrencies To Be Recognized As Property

The Russian General Prosecutor’s Office submitted a proposal in the form of a proposal to define cryptocurrency as property in the Russian Criminal Code.

These proposals are formed in a draft law (RUU) prepared by the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation which contains the recognition of cryptocurrencies or virtual assets as part of property.

Reported by Kanalcoin.com from News.Bitcoin.com, in the lower house of parliament, the Duma, the Attorney General of Russia, Igor Krasnov explained that the legal definition of this will be used in court proceedings within the framework of the Criminal Code.

Crypto currency itself in Russia is basically not completely prohibited from using, but Bitcoin is prohibited from being used as a payment method, especially in goods and services transactions, because it is considered to be able to disrupt the circulation of money in Russia.

Reporting from Kontan.co.id, Russian President Vladimir Putin once revealed that cryptocurrencies do have value, but still cannot be used as a means of payment in trading transactions for oil or other energy resources, because cryptocurrencies are considered unstable.

Russia itself has also issued regulations regarding cryptocurrencies, in which the regulation prohibits cryptocurrencies as a means of payment for goods and services in Russia.

However, Russians are still allowed to invest in crypto assets and have crypto wallets in other countries.

With the submission of the bill on cryptocurrencies being recognized as property, Krasnov also expressed his concern over the increasing use of modern financial technology for criminal behavior, which in his view.

This could be due to gaps in regulations in this area.

He also added that his department had taken the initiative and co-authored a bill that would address this issue, and he would be very grateful if MPs could support him.

So far, cryptocurrencies have essentially been recognized as property under several other Russian acts, such as the Bankruptcy Act and law enforcement proceedings, in the Anti-Money Laundering Act, and the Anti-Corruption Act.

Last December, a bill was submitted to the Duma with the aim of defining cryptocurrency as a property for tax purposes.

However, the report notes, the bill should introduce a legal obligation for residents to report cryptocurrency holdings on tax returns, but this law has not yet been adopted.

In addition, cryptocurrencies remain only partially regulated in the Russian Federation, especially in the law “On Digital Financial Assets” which came into force from January this year.

Then, to introduce terms and rules relating to cryptocurrencies and related activities such as “digital currency issuance”, not dealing with other areas such as mining or payments.

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