The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation equated the digital ruble and cryptocurrency to property: a new stage in the protection of digital assets
Russia's highest judicial authority has taken a crucial step for the entire domestic crypto industry. In an updated resolution of the Plenum dedicated to cases of theft, robbery, and assault, the Supreme Court officially recognized the digital ruble, digital currency, and digital rights as potential objects of theft. The document was adopted at a special session chaired by Igor Krasnov.
This clarification is of immense significance. Legally, it effectively establishes that any digital assets now fall under full criminal law protection on par with traditional material forms of property. Thus, the court has eliminated the legal uncertainty that has long hung over owners of cryptocurrencies and digital rubles.
What exactly is now protected?
The updated list of valuables that can be unlawfully seized includes four categories: physical items, cash, documentary securities, as well as other movable and immovable property. To the latter category, the court directly added non-cash funds, including digital rubles, non-documentary securities, digital rights, and digital currency.
Thus, the digital ruble — the third form of national currency from the Bank of Russia — is now unequivocally considered a lawful object for qualifying theft. A similar legal approach now applies to cryptocurrency and any digital rights. This means that attackers who encroach on these assets will face criminal liability on par with thieves who steal cash or securities.
Timing of the crime: when does liability arise?
The Supreme Court also detailed at what moment a crime is considered completed. The resolution states that a criminal offense is deemed completed directly from the moment the assets are debited from the victim's account. It is then that the perpetrator gains a real opportunity to dispose of the stolen property.
Special attention is given to cases involving multiple sequential debits. If a single victim's savings are withdrawn in parts, through several transactions, but all the criminal's actions are united by a single intent, the act is qualified as one continuing crime, rather than a series of separate criminal episodes. This is an important nuance that simplifies the investigation and qualification of such cases.
According to official judicial statistics, more than 26,000 people are convicted annually in Russia for theft from bank accounts or involving electronic funds. The new clarification from the Supreme Court will undoubtedly expand this practice to the sphere of digital assets.
Analyst's comment: This decision is a long-awaited signal for the market. Now the legal status of cryptocurrencies in Russia becomes more defined, and investors gain an additional tool for protection. However, in practice, the main problem will remain not so much the qualification of the crime, but its investigation and the search for assets. While state-level mechanisms for tracking and blocking digital currencies are still being formed, this resolution creates a solid legal foundation for them.