Russia’s government has submitted a bill to parliament proposing severe criminal penalties for operating unlicensed cryptocurrency services. The draft law, sent to the State Duma, could impose fines up to $13,100 and prison sentences of up to seven years for individuals and organized groups. This legislative push follows a separate incident where the sanctioned Russian exchange Grinex halted trading after a suspected $13.7 million hack.
Russian lawmakers have proposed attaching criminal liability to digital asset services operating without a license from the country’s central bank. The draft law sent to the State Duma states that individuals could face fines up to $4,000 and four years in prison.
Penalties increase for acts committed by an organized group or involving large-scale damage. “The same act committed by an organized group, or involving the infliction of damage or the extraction of income on a particularly large scale, would be punishable by compulsory labor for up to five years or imprisonment for up to seven years,” the bill’s text said.
The legislation also proposes a fine of up to $13,100 or an amount equal to five years of income. This follows an earlier package of bills from March that included criminal penalties for illegal crypto miners.
According to Russian media outlet RBC, the country’s Supreme Court said the bill lacks “reasoned justification” for criminal penalties. The court stated the measure was “premature” until Russia’s “Digital Currency and Digital Rights law” takes effect in July.
In a separate development, the Russia-based crypto exchange Grinex halted trading after losing about $13.7 million in a hack. The company suspected the attack was carried out by “entities of hostile states.”
Grinex said it forwarded information on the attack to law enforcement and filed a criminal complaint. The exchange is currently under international sanctions.
