Interior Ministry Granted Access to Crypto Data
MVD which is the Russian Federal Ministry of Interior has been provided with access to the ‘Personal Account of a Law Enforcement Agency’.
The portal is a ‘digital platform’ of the Ministry that has been authorized to access for fetching information of crypto wallet holders.
Local news agency Tass reported that Ministry would be able to see as to which Russians own digital currency wallets.
This is going to be a huge deal for the Russian government but a major concern for the local crypto holders. The government will be able to keep a very close eye on the cryptocurrency holders in the country.
Tass claimed that Police Chief, Andrey Kurnosenko of the Ministry’s Anti-Corruption wing, also confirmed that the new system is functional now.
According to Tass, the portal was sent live on 9th December on which the day ‘Global Anti-Corruption Day’ is celebrated in Russia.
Intelligence Information & Task Forces
Kurnosenko told Tazz that now the system is in place hence his colleagues can access the portal and fetch the required information.
He stated that accessors can then determine any potential financial risk is there which could adversely affect the Russian economy. In case there is a risk, then they will constitute task forces to combat cybercrimes and related activities.
Digital Wallet Holders
Kurnosenko also revealed that the newly adopted system will also help the Government in identifying persons owning, operating, and maintaining digital wallets.
He claimed that with the help of the system, the investigators can keep an eye on crypto trading within and outside Russia. He further stated that the system had already been used for identifying suspicious digital wallets.
However, he did not mention any details as to when and against whom the tool was used and what happened thereafter.
Crypto Wallet Identifying Tool Was Approved By Parliament
It may be noted that the tool was made part of the law which came before the Russian parliament along with several other crypto-related bills.
The relevant bill was however moved by Russia’s Finance Minister in April this year.
Originally the proposal was prepared with joint efforts of law enforcement agencies and then handed over to the Finance Ministry.
Resultantly, Finance Ministry recommended the bill be passed by the Parliament. Ministry argued that Russia was laying down infrastructure for the crypto industry and hence the proposal was in line with the objective.
Hence, the proposal was made part of the recommendations pertaining to crypto reporting requirements and the seizure of cryptocurrencies.
Local Rumors
There is also a rumor in the Russian print and electronic media regarding the Government developing the new system.
The rumors suggest that such a network came into being a few years ago and had been in action since 2020. This could be true because, in 2020, the Russian Government did carry out a test of a prototype system.
This means that the government is now being clever and making the local communities believe that now they will be implementing the monitoring process.
At that time it was claimed by the Russian Government that the system shall provide artificial intelligence to the Government.
Russia’s Interest in Digital Currencies
It may not come as a surprise that Russia has laid down yet another infrastructure for the digital industry at the local level.
Even in the recent past, Russia made mining legal and established a license-obtaining mechanism for all sorts of mining operations.
However, the only restriction in place is that the mined digital currencies shall not be used locally. They will have to be used outside Russian soil.
On the other hand, Russia has implemented a plan through which it wants to provide further energy to crypto miners.
Even a nuclear power plant has been approved and is under construction from where electricity shall be exclusively used by miners.
