Legislators will propose measures to increase liability for crimes with digital currencies

SAINT PETERSBURG, April 27. /TASS/. Participants in the Council of Legislators will develop measures to strengthenliability for crimes usingdigital currencies. This proposal was made on Wednesday at a meeting of the commission of the Council of Legislators on Legislative Support of National Security and Anti-Corruption Chairman of the State Assembly of Bashkiria Konstantin Tolkachev, who heads the commission.

«The issue of countering financialfraud is of particular relevance in the current difficult geopolitical conditions. We see how modern financial instruments are used as the main offensive means in attempts to exert political pressure on our country. This, in turn, creates scope for the actions of fraudsters of various levels, which can cause significant economic harm to our state. These include underground currency transactions and the use of cryptocurrency to finance various illegal actions», — said Tolkachev.

He called it obvious that «legislation,regulating the activities of government bodies and organizations in the field of combating financial fraud needs to be improved».

According to Tolkachev, in the Russianthere are many gaps in the legislation in terms of combating crimes using digital currencies. At the same time, he noted that financial fraud on the Internet is growing every year and the risks for the national interests of the state from the free circulation of cryptocurrencies are increasing.

«Legalization of cryptocurrencies creates conditions forlarge-scale growth of citizens' investments in a highly speculative instrument that has no backing and is capable of «burst» at any time», — Tolkachev explained.

Head of the State Duma Committee on Security andCombating Corruption Vasily Piskarev during the meeting said that the State Duma is working on legislative regulation of the status of online platforms that are used for anonymous circulation of digital currency.

«Digital currency is a valuesince it is used as a payment, but today there is no institution in the law that would ensure, if necessary, the seizure of these virtual values. This is a gap in the law. This situation must be brought within the framework of the law», — he said.

The meeting participants agreed that the legislators would submit to Piskarev proposals for regulating this area in the form of legislative drafts for further examination.

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