Holder of private keys is guilty, Russian Banking Association urges law amendment to crack down on non-custodial cryptocurrency wallets
The Russian Banking Association has called on the Russian government to criminalize storing cryptocurrencies in non-custodial wallets and outside centralized exchanges. The Russian Banking Association is an organization composed of over 300 Russian banks and financial institutions.
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According to Cointelegraph, the association believes that non-custodial or self-custodial wallets allow users to store cryptocurrencies without relying on a third party that can freeze, block, or seize the user's crypto assets, effectively enabling investors to "be their own bank."
The association's vice chairman, Anatoly Kozlachkov, stated that it is very difficult to take cryptocurrencies from debtors and criminals using such wallets, so the association has developed a framework for confiscating cryptocurrencies stored in non-custodial wallets. This framework, developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, aims to introduce penalties for not storing cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin in non-custodial wallets. The association even suggests that those who refuse to provide keys to authorized agencies should also face criminal liability.
However, the association acknowledges the technical challenges of regulating non-custodial or self-custodial wallets. The complexity of the technology involved in the anonymity of owners, obtaining such funds without the owners' consent, and the technical difficulties associated with accessing non-custodial wallets make such regulation difficult to implement concretely, making the forced confiscation of such assets nearly impossible.
The Russian Banking Association was established in 1990 and covers nearly 90% of Russia's banking infrastructure as of early 2022. The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, officially joined the association in February this year, becoming one of the leaders in the association's expert crypto center.
This article is authorized to be reposted from Horizon News Network.