Russia’s Investigative Committee chief proposes codifying cryptocurrency seizure in law

Cryptocurrencies must be recognised as property and a legislative framework for their confiscation implemented, said the head of Russia’s Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, in an interview with «Российской газете» and «Интерфаксу«.

According to him, Russia’s legislation still contains “grey zones,” without regulation, which makes it difficult for law enforcement to combat illegal operations using digital assets.

Bastrykin believes that for investigating criminal cases cryptocurrencies must be recognised as property. With such a statement he advocated last year.

“The absence of such norms can hinder the qualification of acts and create uncertainty in the judicial consideration of the criminal case. Moreover, the absence of a definition of the procedural status of such assets hinders the imposition of arrest on them, as well as confiscation,” says Bastrykin.

The head of the Investigative Committee believes that cryptocurrencies can be arrested in analogy with the seizure of money and securities, provided that those offering services in the digital assets space are under state control.

At the same time, he noted that full control in the cryptocurrency sphere is impossible due to the “decentralised nature of issuance” of digital currencies.

Bastrykin proposed to insert into the criminal-procedure law provisions allowing the court to order the accused to transfer crypto assets to a special state cryptocurrency account before the conclusion of the trial.

Earlier, the head of the Russian General Prosecutor’s Office, Igor Krasnov reported on the preparation of norms, which will allow recognising digital assets as the subject of a crime and confiscating them.

Follow ForkLog’s Bitcoin news on our Telegram — cryptocurrency news, prices and analytics.