Digital currency issuers could face seven years in prison in Russia

Russia’s Ministry of Finance has reportedly stepped up penalties for so-called currency brokers, including digital currencies.

According to a Russian government source, individuals who issue currency substitutes will face four years in prison, the news service Telegraph reported. Executives of financial companies who release their own currency substitutes will face seven years in prison, and similar positions will be restricted in the future.

Issuing currency substitutes will be fined 500,000 to 1 million rubles, about $ 7,000 to $ 14,000 . Executives of related financial companies will be fined 2.5 million rubles, about $ 350,000 .

If passed, the proposal would improve the law governing the activities of money agents, primarily targeting non-government-issued currencies, including Bitcoin. Efforts to restrict money agents began in 2014 .

In February of this year , an adviser to Russia’s Putin suggested in a public statement that accepting Bitcoin in Russia would be a crime.

At least one private payments company, QIWI, is moving forward with its own digital currency project, BitRuble . The company said recently that it is developing the project and is working with regulators, including the Russian Central Bank, which has shown interest in the blockchain, the underlying technology of Bitcoin, in the past.

However, there are signs that the BitRuble project promoted by QIWI has attracted the attention of some government officials, and confrontation still exists.

“ This project could be a great solution to our market problems, but there are still misunderstandings about the technology and regulation involved, ” QIWI communications director Konstantin Koltsov told CoinDesk this week .