Seizure of Cryptocurrency in Criminal Proceedings: New Rules and Unresolved Issues

The seizure of cryptocurrency in criminal proceedings has received a clearer legal framework over the past year: the legislator recognized digital currency as property for the purposes of criminal law, described the procedure for arrest, and introduced special rules for its seizure during investigative actions. However, many practical issues still depend not so much on legal norms as on the technical feasibility of their implementation.

In September 2025, the key difficulties were reduced to three blocks: there was no controlled infrastructure for storing digital currency, there were no official tools for its realization, and the procedure for arrest, accounting, and storage of crypto assets in criminal proceedings had not been regulated by special norms.

What Changes Have Come into Effect

On March 3, 2026, amendments to the criminal and criminal procedural legislation came into force. They established several fundamental decisions.

• Digital currency is directly classified as property for the purposes of criminal law.
• Article 115 of the Criminal Procedure Code was supplemented with norms regarding the specifics of arresting digital currency, including cryptocurrency.
• Article 164.2 was added to the Criminal Procedure Code, which regulates the seizure of digital currency during investigative actions.

Additionally, the Government's resolution dated June 30, 2026, No. 808 approved the "Rules for the Storage, Transfer, and Accounting of Digital Currency in Criminal Proceedings".

State Storage System: A Solution Found, but Not All Risks Eliminated

The first major problem concerned the lack of controlled Russian infrastructure for storing digital currency. Now such a model has emerged.

The organization of storage has been entrusted to a credit organization, 100% of whose voting shares belong to the Russian Federation and which acts as an authorized bank in the field of digital currency circulation. In this structure, it acts as an agent.

The agent, in coordination with the FSB and Rosfinmonitoring, engages an authorized organization. It is directly responsible for the storage and accounting of digital currency.

Storage must be carried out at special identifier addresses of state bodies. Such addresses are opened according to the rules approved by the Government's resolution dated November 1, 2024, No. 1467. Accounting is conducted on the digital platform of the authorized organization.

Thus, the regulatory framework for state storage of crypto assets has been created. However, practical questions remain: how exactly is the technical architecture of such a system arranged, who and how manages the private keys, and how is the exclusive control of the state over the seized assets ensured?

Realization of Confiscated Cryptocurrency: Market Rules Established

The second block of problems was related to the absence of official cryptocurrency exchanges and exchangers through which confiscated cryptocurrency could be realized. Significant changes have also occurred here.

Federal Law No. 282-FZ dated August 4, 2026, "On Digital Currencies and Digital Rights" laid the legal foundation for a regulated market for digital currencies. It also covers the activities of organizations engaged in the exchange of such assets.

At the same time, the norms regarding enforcement proceedings were amended. They provided for the realization of digital currencies at organized trades, as well as a separate procedure for transferring confiscated assets to the state.

However, the normative description still does not answer all practical questions. It is not entirely clear how trade organizers, enforcement authorities, authorized custodians, and participants in the regulated market will interact when it comes to the sale of specific confiscated cryptocurrency.

Arrest, Accounting, and Storage: New Procedure and Its Technical Limits

The third issue concerned the lack of a special procedure for the arrest, accounting, and storage of cryptocurrency. Now, during investigative actions involving a specialist, digital currency, if technically possible, is transferred to a special address identifier.

If the digital currency is stored on a physical medium or contains information for access to it, such a medium is subject to seizure. This may refer, for example, to hardware wallets, recorded private keys, or mnemonic phrases.

Such items must be stored in a sealed condition and in environments that ensure the preservation of digital currency. Furthermore, the storage procedure must exclude access by unauthorized persons to information that allows for the disposal of assets.

However, the procedure itself does not eliminate technological limitations. Difficulties remain if the cryptocurrency is on multi-signature wallets, on foreign centralized exchanges, or in smart contracts of decentralized applications (dApps).

What Questions Remain Open

Who Will Be the Specialist in Cryptocurrency Seizure

The Criminal Procedure Code contains general requirements for specialists but does not establish separate qualification criteria in the field of blockchain technology. Therefore, it remains unclear how the investigator will assess the competence of the person involved in the seizure of digital currency.

How Confiscated Assets Will Be Sold in Practice

Norms regarding organized trading have already emerged, but the implementation mechanism requires practical adjustment. In particular, the question of transferring assets from the authorized custodian for subsequent sale remains open. It is also unclear how the peculiarities of different types of cryptocurrencies will be accounted for during their realization.

What to Do If Tokens Are Blocked by the Issuer

A separate problem is associated with assets that can be blocked by the issuer. For example, Tether is technically capable of restricting USDT transfers from certain addresses, as well as destroying previously blocked tokens.

In such a situation, a number of procedural and practical questions arise. How to execute a decision to return digital currency if the transfer is technically impossible or the tokens have already been destroyed? How will Russian law enforcement interact with the foreign issuer? Who will be responsible if it is practically impossible to return the digital currency?

Conclusion

Over the year, regulation has made significant progress. Mechanisms for the arrest, confiscation, storage, and return of digital currency have appeared in law, as well as the foundations for its realization. However, the existence of a norm does not mean automatic technical enforceability. Multi-signature, access to assets on foreign crypto platforms, the preservation of mnemonic phrases and private keys, as well as real control over cryptocurrency remain key challenges. How effective the new rules will be will be shown by law enforcement practice.