Russian Ministry of Finance Says Bitcoin Could Threaten National Security

03.02.2016

According to Russian Ministry of Finance, the so-called money surrogates, a term usually encompassing cryptocurrencies, may be a threat both to the country’s economy and national security.

Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Russian government publication, reports of the new amendments to Russian Criminal code:

“The experts from Russian ministry of the interior alongside with financial experts believe that cryptocurrencies pose a threat to both Russian economy and national security. For that reason, Russia’s Ministry of Finance has developed amendments to the Criminal Code providing responsibility for cryptocurrency issuance. It implies a penalty charge up to 500,000 rubles, or corrective labor for the term of up to 2 years”

Earlier, Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Russian Investigative Committee, said that operations with cryptocurrencies, and bitcoin in the first place, shall be subject to criminal punishment.

However, Lyudmila Bokova, deputy chairwoman at the Federation Council’s constitutional committee, argues that growing use of cryptocurrencies in Russia is inevitable, and therefore government should be considering ways of regulating them rather than banning.

Bokova emphasized that several other nations consider bitcoin a means of payment or an exchange commodity, and recalled the respective ruling by the European Court of Justice.

“Controlling shouldn’t always start with criminal responsibility,” she said.