New Russian Crypto Law Could Jail Illegal Traders Up To 7 Years

The State Duma which is the Russian parliament is reportedly set to vote on the new legislation around cryptocurrency – promising to make illegal crypto trading a criminal offence that would be punishable with jail time. The new Russian crypto law could be bad for illegal traders, sentencing them up to 7 years in jail time.

According to reports by RBC, Telegram users in Russia are now saying that they have seen draft amendments to two Russian laws which pertain to the criminal code in the nation. The new Russian crypto law that is now in the Bitcoin and altcoin news, according to reports, is still awaiting for consultation.

RBC also quoted Nikita Kulikov who is a member of a Duma tech council. He stated that these new rules – if they are accepted – would only be enforceable if conducted on platforms that are physically based in Russia. This fact, as he said, already rendered the proposed amendments as “outdated and inefficient.”

Still, the new Russian crypto law definitely comes with some steep measures for cryptocurrency trading, mining and exchange-related violations. They all seek to distinguish between cases that involve criminal liability as well as minor offences.

Under the proposals, courts would class the former as a crypto-related legal violations that “cause major or especially large damage to citizens, organizations or the Russian state.” Criminal offenses of this sort could be punishable with fines of up to $14,000 under the new Russian crypto law – and up to seven years in prison.

The less severe penalties for illegal crypto trading and other violations that did not cause “widespread damage” – would incur fines of up to $7,000 for ordinary individuals. Public officials could face fines of up to three times this amount, the Russian parliament noted.

Cryptocurrency regulation is tightening in Russia and companies that break the rules could be forced to close down. If they are overseas ventures, they also might be obliged to leave Russia.

For miners, this new Russian crypto law states that those making any unauthorized use of “equipment located in Russian territory” could be punished “if this infrastructure is used to transfer digital currency to third parties.”

All of this shows that Russia steps in with new initiatives on how it regulates cryptocurrencies and illegal trading of such.