Russian lawmakers have suggested punishments of up to 2 million rubles ($27,800) and seven years in prison for illegal turnover of digital assets and cryptocurrencies.

As reported past the Russian business aqueduct, RBC, the draft amendments to the administrative and criminal offences codes were confirmed as genuine, but have non yet been agreed into police.

Sliding scale of punishment

The punishments suggested are on a sliding calibration, starting with administrative offences for violating proposed rules governing transactions using digital currencies in payment for goods or services rendered.

In this example assets can exist seized, forth with fines issued from 20,000 to 200,000 rubles ($278 to $2,780) to individuals. Officials confront fines of l,000 to 400,000 rubles, and legal entities can be fined betwixt 100,000 and 1 million rubles.

Fines roughly double for organizing illegal turnover of digital avails or providing ways to upshot digital currency from within Russian territory.

The aforementioned acts can exist considered criminal violations if they cause major harm to citizens, organizations or the country. These will incur larger fines, along with upwardly to five years hard labor or seven years of prison time.

There is also a penalisation for ownership digital assets for greenbacks on Russian territory, and for transferring funds from cryptocurrency to Russian banking company accounts.

Cryptocurrency companies will move elsewhere

Yuri Pripachkin, President of the Russian Association of Crypto-economics and Blockchain, claims that the new bundle of laws essentially incorporate a complete ban on cryptocurrency, and will not allow Russian businesses to benefit from this technology.

He believes that the new rules, if brought into police force, could lead to a mass exodus of companies out of Russia to relocated in neighbouring countries with more crypto-friendly jurisdictions, saying:

In fact, [the Russian government] is proposing to build a new iron curtain in the digital economic system with its own hands

Russia has been uncertain as to which direction to have on cryptocurrencies for several years, although it has recently been taking more physical steps regarding regulation of digital assets.