They have pushed the government to use cryptocurrency exchanges, recognize cryptocurrencies as property, and permit agencies to use digital wallets.
According to the business daily Kommersant, Russian prosecutors are convinced that investigating agencies, among other governmental bodies, should be permitted to set up cryptocurrency wallets and be able to hold and convert digital assets that have been seized into fiat currency.
When acquired illegally, digital assets should be recognized as property that can be seized, according to the Prosecutor General’s Office. At a roundtable discussion on e-justice, prosecutor Madina Dolgieva from the office’s main judicial department explained.
Dolgieva made a comment about how courts continue to issue contradictory rulings, with some recognizing cryptocurrency as property while others do not during the meeting, which was sponsored by the Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building at the Federation Council, the upper house of parliament.
The present law “On Digital Financial Assets,” which came into effect in 2021, only partially addresses the issue of cryptocurrency regulation in Russia.
According to Madina Dolgieva, seizing a physical wallet with digital assets, for instance, is only half the battle because the cryptocurrency must still be cashed out.
The prosecutor believes it is essential to let the investigators use their own wallets and convert the cryptocurrency, whose use has significantly expanded in the Russian Federation since the government imposed limitations on international transfers of fiat currency in February of this year.