PANews reported on April 30 that according to Cryptonews, Russia's anti-money laundering agency, the Federal Financial Monitoring Service, intends to promote criminal liability for illegal cryptocurrency mining, accusing it of facilitating money laundering activities. German Neglyad, deputy director of the agency, revealed that it has jointly formulated relevant bills with the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank, and has obtained support from policy-making agencies such as the Russian Citizens' Chamber.
Nikolai Zhuravlev, deputy chairman of the Federation Council, stressed that legislation needs to be "forward-looking to eliminate loopholes in the financial system". Osman Kabaloev, deputy director of the Financial Policy Department of the Ministry of Finance, confirmed that amendments are being drafted and that administrative penalties will be introduced in addition to criminal liability. This move is aimed at curbing the use of cheap electricity to illegally mine and transfer funds.
