Suits Relating to Crypto Criminal Cases in Russia Have Increased by 40%
According to a recent survey, courts in Russia are hearing an increasing number of cases involving digital currency. About two-thirds of them have been started under the country’s Criminal Code, but there is also a significant portion of civil lawsuits. The number of lawsuits in Russia involving cryptocurrencies, the trading of digital assets, and coin production increased significantly over the course of the previous year, totaling 1,531. Izvestia last week cited research by the cybersecurity firm RTM Group that produced the statistic. According to the daily’s report on Friday, 954 of these cases, or the bulk, have been filed under various provisions of the Russian Criminal Code. Nearly one in ten (141) of the procedures, or another quarter, are civil cases.
The study’s authors point out that as people involved in drug trafficking want their payments to remain anonymous, Bitcoin is most frequently used in criminal cases involving drug trafficking (738 of these cases were filed last year). The use of digital currency for the laundering of illegal funds is another legal action. The researchers found that in 2021, the number of bankruptcy cases involving bitcoin ownership had doubled. The parties are required to submit documentation demonstrating their ownership of the coins because the Russian judiciary refers to cryptocurrency assets in these proceedings as property. RTM used data from the official correspondence of several agencies as well as public acts of general jurisdiction courts and arbitration courts to create its report. The study’s findings are now public as Moscow officials continue to discuss the appropriate legal position for cryptocurrencies in the country.
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