Russia's Bold Move: Classifying Crypto as Seizable Property!

Hold onto your wallets, folks! The Russian Ministry of Justice is gearing up to drop a bombshell of a bill that'll classify your crypto assets as good ol' property—ripe for the picking in criminal cases!

Russia's not messing around when it comes to cracking down on crypto crime. The latest buzz from May 19 says the Ministry of Justice is cooking up a bill that'll make your digital coins as seizable as a thief's loot. Yep, they're about to treat your crypto like any other asset they can snatch in court.

"The Ministry of Justice has crafted a bill that'll stamp your digital currency as property—perfect for arresting and then, bam, confiscating it," declares Deputy Minister of Justice, Vadim Fedorov, with the kind of confidence that sends chills down a crypto crook's spine.

Fedorov's not stopping there. He's rallying the experts to make sure these digital assets can be nabbed and locked down tight. We're talking about grabbing physical wallets and snagging those all-important seed phrases. And if that's not enough, courts might just slap a ban on your wallet transactions altogether!

Russians are Diving Deep into Crypto Crime!

This whole seizure shake-up is Russia's response to the skyrocketing use of crypto in the underworld. The authorities are sounding the alarm on the sale of drugs through those sneaky darknet markets, all greased by crypto transactions.

Fedorov isn't pulling any punches about the hurdles of snagging crypto. He's spilling the beans on why these digital goodies are a magnet for the bad guys.

"Criminals are all over this type of asset because it's anonymous and there's no big boss pulling the strings. You can't just stuff digital currency into a safe like you can with cash and jewels," Fedorov lays it out, highlighting the allure and the headache of crypto for law enforcement.

Take Russia's own darknet market, Kraken, for example. It's seen a whopping 68% surge in crypto deals, even as global forces clamp down on these shadowy platforms. Since the takedown of another Russian giant, Hydra, back in April 2022, Kraken's stepped up, becoming the biggest darknet playground in Russia. And no, we're not talking about the legit crypto exchange sharing its name!