The Legal Status of Cryptocurrencies: Trends in the Development of Foreign and Russian Legislation
https://doi.org/10.18384/2949-513X-2026-2-93-104
Abstract
Aim. Тo identify the features of the legal status of cryptocurrencies in foreign and Russian practice in order to justify the need for their full integration into domestic legislation.
Methodology. The analysis of researchers' views on the civil legal nature of digital assets is presented. The sources are analysed, including foreign regulatory experience, as well as the dynamics of Russian legislation in terms of mining, taxation, and experimental legal regimes. The article summarises the judicial practice and positions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation on the protection of the rights of owners of digital currencies. Comparative legal, historical-legal, system-logical and judicial-legal methods were used in the framework of this research.
Results. Тhe analysis showed that the Russian Federation forms a balanced regulatory model, recognising digital currency as property for tax and criminal purposes. However, it has been established that the absence of cryptocurrencies in the basic list of objects of civil rights in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation creates legal uncertainty and risks of unjustified refusal of judicial protection.
Research implications. Рroposals have been formulated to supplement Article 128 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation with the term «digital currencies». The proposed revision will make it possible to definitively determine their legal nature as objects of civil rights, ensure the uniformity of court decisions and guarantee the protection of the rights of bona fide purchasers.
About the Authors
Yu. V. Gordopolov
Federal State University of Education
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Yuri V. Gordopolov – Cand. Sci. (Economy), Assoc. Prof., Department of Constitutional and Civil Law, Faculty of Law
Moscow
A. I. Yakutina
Moscow Bar Association "Chistye Prudy"
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Anastasia I. Yakutina – Assistant Lawyer
Moscow
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