Ukraine Tallies Cryptocurrency-Related Criminal Cases in Courts

Since 2014, the Unified State Register of Court Decisions in Ukraine has recorded information on over 1,500 rulings in criminal cases related to various cryptocurrencies, according to local media.

The majority of these criminal cases (420 proceedings) are associated with fraud, often involving activities of various financial pyramids.

In 345 cases, digital assets are mentioned in the context of their use by drug dealers, while 54 cases involve investigations into interference with computer networks.

The register also includes criminal proceedings related to money laundering, document forgery, extortion, corruption, and terrorism financing using cryptocurrencies.

According to media reports, as of the time of writing, convictions have been issued in only a third of the 1,500 criminal proceedings.

They also noted that in 2023, cases mentioning cryptocurrencies constituted a small fraction of the total 475,000 criminal proceedings opened. One possible reason is the lack of expertise among law enforcement for conducting complex investigations.

Since last year, employees of supervisory and law enforcement agencies have been undergoing various specialized training sessions, including learning to use tools for analyzing blockchain transactions. However, journalists found mentions of the practical application of such tools in only two court decisions.

In May 2023, the US Internal Revenue Service and Chainalysis analysts announced cooperation with Ukraine to track instances of Russians evading sanctions using cryptocurrencies.

In November, Ukrainian officials and law enforcement officers completed a course on tracking illicit bitcoin transactions, funded by the OSCE.

According to Ukraine’s cyber police, from January to November last year, law enforcement agencies received over 1,500 reports related to crimes in the cryptocurrency sector.