Igor Krasnov, who is the Prosecutor General of Russia, has been insisting upon the Russian Government to treat digital currencies as “properties” and argues that as properties are protected under the criminal law so should cryptocurrencies be protected and governed in accordance therewith. He opines that the criminal law is amended forthwith to include cryptocurrencies.
Cryptocurrencies are no longer fully decentralized in many parts of the world. In fact, they have been continuously being brought under the regulatory supervision of the governments and governmental institutions. Similarly, there have been many aspects with regard to digital currencies which are still un-regulated in the Russian Federation. Only a fraction of digital currency regulation is there in Russia and digital assets haven’t been classified as they should be.
In Russia, however, digital assets are regarded as “assets” by the majority view. However, there is no law that describes them to be “assets”. There has been an attempt recently which is aimed towards recognizing digital currencies under a specific law. The attempt has been made by Igor Krasnov, who is Russia’s Prosecutor General and a very influential public official.
The office of Prosecutor General, on its own, has prepared the law proposal wherein he wants cryptocurrencies and digital assets to be recognized lawfully. He suggests that under Russian criminal law, virtual currencies, as well as assets, must be treated as “properties”. This recognition will provide multifarious solutions to a number of problems. He gave an example that virtual assets as “properties” will enable consumers to invoke property rights if their rights have been infringed. Similarly, the Courts would be able to hear cases involving crypto and decide matters by passing judgments on the basis of criminal law.
Krasnov insisted that in many parts of the world, crypto is now a lawfully recognized “property”. These countries have already amended their criminal codes to include virtual currencies and digital assets in the law. Russia too is required to amend the law for bringing it to line with the recently amended criminal codes at the global level. The Prosecutor General argued his point of view in front of the members of the Russian Lower House i.e. the Parliament.
He also drew the attention of the Russian Parliamentarians on the issue of crypto crimes growing alarmingly in the country. He said that crypto criminals have modernized instruments of committing fraud and perjury upon helpless victims. The criminals have no fears at all because they are aware that there is no legal backing against stealing virtual assets. Resultantly, they have been encouraged to execute their crimes fearlessly. However, if the criminal code is amended as suggested, then these criminals will be prosecuted and the property rights of crypto consumers ensured.
In the end, he insisted upon the Parliamentarians to fulfill their constitutional obligations by approving the draft proposal in the public interest.
