Criminal and Legal Protection of Relationships in the Area of Blockchains Functioning and Cryptocurrency Turnover: New Challenges

Abstract

The research is aimed at setting and studying the criminal measures to protect relationships in the field of blockchain functioning and cryptocurrency turnover and at formulating proposals to adjust relevant criminal regulations to the current level of the development of information technologies. The methodology contains formal-legal methods and comparative law techniques, as well as logical and systematic ways of interpretation of rules and regulations. The results: The investigation reveals that Articles 272 and 273 of the RF’s Criminal Code as presently in force don’t admit of applying these measures to individuals committing the given crimes for the purpose of affecting information and telecommunication networks and points out that definite regulations related to computerized data crimes take into account neither a dramatic increase in crime danger to the public in the area of blockchain functioning and cryptocurrency turnover nor the identity of criminals of a relevant category. The conclusion proposes the following amendments: (1) to edit both Part 1 Article 272 and Part 1 Article 273 of the RF’s Criminal Code in order to eliminate the aforementioned neglected issues; (2) to assign the status of a qualifying element: (a) to the way of committing a crime in the area of computerized data in relation to the intervention in the operation of information and telecommunication networks (Part 2 Article 1596); (b) to the effect after unauthorized access to the computerized data by way of intervening in the information and telecommunication network (Part 2 Article 272 of the RF’s Criminal Code); (c) to the target of crime (Part 2 Article 273 of the RF’s Criminal Code), i.e., the creation, use and distribution of malware aimed to intervene in the operation of information and telecommunication networks; (3) to amend Part 1 Article 63 of the RF’s Criminal Code by inserting a new section “committing a crime with the use of specific knowledge and (or) special skills”.