Association of Russian Banks proposed criminalizing the storage of cryptocurrencies outside exchanges

A criminal law approach will help the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance to resolve contradictions in the regulation of cryptocurrencies, the ARB noted

18.04.2022 - 10:30

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What’s new? The Association of Russian Banks (ARB) has proposed criminalizing the storage of cryptocurrencies on non-custodial wallets. According to the ARB Vice President Anatoly Kozlachkov, the concept was developed with the advisory assistance of the Ministry of the Interior. The association believes that a criminal law approach will allow equalizing all participants of the crypto market as persons liable to pay taxes. It will also help the Bank of Russia and the Ministry of Finance to resolve contradictions in the regulation of cryptocurrencies, the ARB noted. This was reported by Izvestia, citing a letter from the association.

Izvestia’s material

What does the letter say? The establishment of criminal liability is provided for the fact of storing digital assets on non-custodial wallets in case the cryptocurrency has not been declared. The association believes that criminal liability should be imposed for refusal to provide keys to authorized bodies and not for possession of such crypto wallets. When a debtor and an anonymous wallet are found to be linked, they should either give out a key or face penalties for hiding property in the form of digital assets.

What preceded it? The Government of the Russian Federation submitted to the State Duma a bill on the specifics of taxation for transactions involving digital assets. According to the document, Russian cryptocurrency organizations that issue digital assets and cryptocurrency exchanges will be subject to value-added tax (VAT) of 13%, while foreign companies will be subject to 15%. Russia’s Ministry of Finance allowed the possibility of cryptocurrency recognition as a means of payment. This is stated in the draft law “On Digital Currency” prepared by the Ministry of Finance.

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