Russian miners may have to file declarations of their income or face prison sentences, according to a series of bills submitted by Alexei Moiseev, the deputy head of the Ministry of Finance, to the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Justice, the Federal Tax Service, the Central Bank and other departments in February. Baza reported, citing copies of the documents. If passed, the bills would require miners to provide information about the receipt of digital currencies and the address of the corresponding cryptocurrency identifier. Punishments for evasion of digital assets could include up to four years in prison, as well as fines and forced labour.
The proposed laws would also criminalise the organisation of digital currency circulation and limit sales of cryptocurrencies to exchanges or Russian platforms operating as part of an experimental legal regime. A register of digital asset exchange operators would also be created. Cryptocurrency owners would similarly be required to provide information to authorised officials about operations with digital currency, on request.