Russian Law Would Send Bitcoin Users to Jail as Cybercriminals

[Blacula X]

It is because of the criminals who use bitcoin, because of these criminals a lot of other people also lost access to that beneficial currency, the government should have to device some other procedures to stop the criminals to use it.

Someone ban the dollar because criminals are using it to finance their illegal actions. Cash is so untraceable, we have to do something about it.

For government to use the "criminals" excuse is absolutely absurd.

Welcome to bitcointalk, newfriend, nice first post.
You seem upset that the Russian government wants to ban Bitcoin, the de facto currency of internet crime from child pornographers to crank dealers to Ransomware h4xx0r0rs.
I realize how unsettling this injustice must be for a freedom lover such as yourself.

While I agree with you that issuance of own currency is as fundamental to freedoms as free speech and ownership of comically pimped-out assault weapons with clownishly oversized mags, do try to understand that if the sole unique use case scenario for cash was buying drugs and kiddie porn on DNMs, it would have been banned long ago.
I hope you understand

[thejaytiesto]

As far as I can remember, I have been reading news like this by Putin and friends about how they would put people to jail if they use Bitcoin, how they ban Bitcoin websites and whatnot, but if you look at the volume of rubble to BTC in Localbitcoins you can see that there is only more and more people using Bitcoin, so this idiot will never learn the lesson that now laws can stop Bitcoin.

[ajareselde]

It is because of the criminals who use bitcoin, because of these criminals a lot of other people also lost access to that beneficial currency, the government should have to device some other procedures to stop the criminals to use it.

Criminals using bitcoin nothing other than a lousy excuse in an atempt to control  the only thing they couldn't thus far - a decentralized p2p payment system,
that puts the faulty and essentially worthless fiat to knees.
The real criminals use fiat, and do their deeds in broad daylight on the open, but you dont see governments fighting them .. ask urself why.

[Blacula X]

... but you dont see governments fighting them .. ask urself why.

Could it be because they don't brag about bringing fiat and governments to their knees on the interweb, like a bunch of embarrassingly edgy teenagers with daddy issues?
Dunno.

[GreenBits]

I have no access to actual numbers, but some article quoted a Russian official claiming bitcoin use by criminals in Russia went up x12 in the past year. Have no idea how such stats are gathered/what they even mean, but if bitcoin is really becoming a problem, then the hardships of a few legit bitcoiners will be outweighed by the overall win for Russia as a whole. Pragmatic.

I guess it can be about the mafia use from Cryptolockers.

 

This. I may be mistaken, but I thought the majority of cyber crime originated from Russia, China, and North Korea. With the overwhelming majority actually coming from Russia. It seems cogent they would at least take steps to regulate cryptos (esp with the ruble doing the cool jerk) but this seems a little heavy handed. With that being said, media is state controlled/influenced and I'm pretty sure this is part of the propaganda machine that was born when Putin's name came up in the Panama Papers.

"We're huuuuuuge into not being shady, see?"

[ahpku]

^^The proposal was first drafted last year, it's just doing all the usual rounds.

Russian Bear Fed Up With Bitcoin Bullshit

Russia's Ministry of Finance has developed a new version of its proposed law that would seek to both outlaw and apply criminal penalties for activities involving digital currencies, according to a report by Russian news source Interfax.

Citing sources from within the Russian government, Interfax reports that acquiring, selling and distributing cryptocurrencies would be punishable with fines of 300,000 rubles ($4,574) or through up to 360 hours of correctional labor under the new bill.

Should such infractions be committed by an agency or group, the fines for such activities would increase to 500,000 rubles ($7,623).

[Wapinter]

It is because of the criminals who use bitcoin, because of these criminals a lot of other people also lost access to that beneficial currency, the government should have to device some other procedures to stop the criminals to use it.

If they want to curb the use of bitcoin in illegal activities,they should have regulate the bitcoin instead of banning it outrightly.Even fiat can be and is used in illegal activities,will they ban fiat too?

[road to morocco]

If they want to curb the use of bitcoin in illegal activities,they should have regulate the bitcoin instead of banning it outrightly.Even fiat can be and is used in illegal activities,will they ban fiat too?

No, moms buy milk for their babies with fiat. Dads gas up their cars with fiat. Babushkas buy whatever it is babushkas buy with fiat. Bitcoins? If bitcoins disappear, it would be harder to score krokodil and pay off ransomware extortionists, otherwise zero impact.
Still confused?

[knowhow]

I dont believe this,just bitcoin used to black market?We all knows that fiat do that for a long time why dont they do the same,banning fiat?

[MingLee]

... but you dont see governments fighting them .. ask urself why.

Could it be because they don't brag about bringing fiat and governments to their knees on the interweb, like a bunch of embarrassingly edgy teenagers with daddy issues?
Dunno.

kek

Yeah, that's fairly accurate, I'm not sure why so many people on this forum think they're bringing the government to their knees, and that they're part of some great movement. I'll admit I'm not completely innocent of that, but I definitely haven't been as fanatical about it as some of the people here.

[GreenBits]

If they want to curb the use of bitcoin in illegal activities,they should have regulate the bitcoin instead of banning it outrightly.Even fiat can be and is used in illegal activities,will they ban fiat too?

No, moms buy milk for their babies with fiat. Dads gas up their cars with fiat. Babushkas buy whatever it is babushkas buy with fiat. Bitcoins? If bitcoins disappear, it would be harder to score krokodil and pay off ransomware extortionists, otherwise zero impact.
Still confused?

LMAO, you had to bring krokodil into this. But you are right. Very few people in the world really use bitcoin because they aren't really so useful for making everyday transactions. I lived off of bitcoin for a few years (which means living off of Gyft for a few years), it sucks ass and you have no fuel. Bitcoin truly is internet money, albeit useful.

Also, the confirmation time issue would be spooky bad if ppl actually used bitcoin.

... but you dont see governments fighting them .. ask urself why.

Could it be because they don't brag about bringing fiat and governments to their knees on the interweb, like a bunch of embarrassingly edgy teenagers with daddy issues?
Dunno.

kek

Yeah, that's fairly accurate, I'm not sure why so many people on this forum think they're bringing the government to their knees, and that they're part of some great movement. I'll admit I'm not completely innocent of that, but I definitely haven't been as fanatical about it as some of the people here.

They are not aware of the abuses a government can pour on a person's head. It's like a business, wiith guns. AKA a gang. I tend not to fuck with gangs, lest I come up missing.

Perspective 

[pimpjuice]

Russians are fucking awesome. No bullshit and straight to the point, the way we should all be.  Putin sucks balls.

[road to morocco]

It is because of the criminals who use bitcoin, because of these criminals a lot of other people also lost access to that beneficial currency, the government should have to device some other procedures to stop the criminals to use it.

Someone ban the dollar because criminals are using it to finance their illegal actions. Cash is so untraceable, we have to do something about it.

For government to use the "criminals" excuse is absolutely absurd.

Welcome to bitcointalk, newfriend, nice first post.
You seem upset that the Russian government wants to ban Bitcoin, the de facto currency of internet crime from child pornographers to crank dealers to Ransomware h4xx0r0rs.
I realize how unsettling this injustice must be for a freedom lover such as yourself.

While I agree with you that issuance of own currency is as fundamental to freedoms as free speech and ownership of comically pimped-out assault weapons with clownishly oversized mags, do try to understand that if the sole unique use case scenario for cash was buying drugs and kiddie porn on DNMs, it would have been banned long ago.
I hope you understand

Thank you for your reply. Same goes here, if bitcoin's sole use was for drugs, kiddie porn and so on, banning it is the right choice. But with bitcoin, you can trace every single transaction from the beginning till the end. That is why FBI could easily arrest the Silk Road owner.

According to Wikipedia, total Silk Road sales were 80 million USD. Just look at one bank (HSBS) using USD to help Mexican cartels launder over 2 billion in two years.  The whole market cap of Bitcoin is about 7 billion right now. Bitcoin is too traceable and too small for terrorists.

Right now I can see all the transaction that are taking place through blockchain.info and explore addresses with blockexplorer.com. Contrary to general knowledge, bitcoin transactions are not anonymous.

Bitcoin is just an efficient technology to transfer funds across borders without discriminating the receiver or the sender. Freeing the internet from costly commissions and time consuming bank transfers.

>That is why FBI could easily arrest the Silk Road owner.
Define "easily."
DPR wasn't arrested by doing blogchain majiks, he was arrested because he had such mindnumbingly crappy opsec that he *actually kept a diary of his khrymez" and tried to hire feds to murder a d00d.

http://s32.postimg.org/kfa5ztk0l/ross1.jpg

>Contrary to general knowledge, bitcoin transactions are not anonymous.
Contrary to general knowledge, that's not the general knowledge. Bitcoin is pseudonymous. Strangely enough tho, you can't arrest 1MY5yFZZfcVbV5kw1VqCnhqMKARYV3UKAS, so watching an alphanumerical string selling CP to another alphanumerical string is not overly useful

>Bitcoin is just an efficient technology to transfer funds across borders without discriminating the receiver or the sender.
Sure, and an AK47 is just an efficient way to rapidly accelerate a small mass to roughly double the speed of sound. The fact that its unique use case scenario is wetting people is neither here nor there

[ahmedjamal1998]

Oh this is really disappointing.

But for 7 years??  Like what?  Murderers I hear get 10-15 years !!

[thend1949]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-28/russian-law-would-send-bitcoin-users-to-jail-as-cybercriminals

Russia is planning to punish users of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, saying anonymous, difficult to trace transactions help kidnappers and money launderers.

The Finance Ministry in Moscow plans to submit legislation next month that would punish those who use digital currencies with fines as high as 2.5 million rubles ($38,000) and jail sentences of up to seven years. As opponents criticize such regulations as futile in the face of the growing popularity of bitcoin, Russia joins countries including Bolivia, Iceland and Vietnam in taking steps to criminalize it.

“Bitcoin can be used to finance the shadow economy and crimes, and this risk we cannot allow in the Russia’s financial system, which we are striving to make transparent and healthy,” the press service of the central bank said in an e-mail.

Oh its bad news for us. And its good in their country because they cant buy drugs in deepweb it good but its bad to others that they dont buying drugs.. Its bad to like me earning only in bitcoin

[Capitascism]

This won't pass, and it, won't last i believe. They will find different way to control transactions and filter internet because they know they can't stop it, but they can taxed. So most likely this will be ending of this story.

[Evildrum]

That could also be the case of temporary lock down and then open up once current global issues are fixed.
Seems to be they do not want another distraction as they cross their Ts and dot their I's on the global stage.

[fenican]

The dollar is much better store of value than the Ruble for the simple reason that the US economy is 10 times as large as Russia's and vastly more diverse.

As for Bitcoin, the value is very arbitrary and reflects a balance between investor hording and the huge sums paid out to miners to keep the network operating. That's a razor's edge - a very slight imbalance can cause huge swings in valuation. Please do not think or imagine for a minute that Bitcoin is some stable store of value. It's the polar opposite - more comparable to a penny stock.

[BitFomo]

Buh Bye Yobit. You have until may 24 to remove all your coins from the exchange or kiss them goodbye forever. 

[Wendigo]

Wow the Russian government doesn't muck about regarding Bitcoin. Do you think they will prosecute single individuals as well or this is geared towards exchanges only? Imagine if you are a tourist or a foreigner visiting relatives in Russia and get caught transacting Bitcoin on the street and boom 7 years in jail that's ridiculous. By the way what will happen to the BTC-e exchange? Aren't they based in Russia?