Michigan will Include Cryptocurrencies in Criminal Laws to Prevent Illicit Activities
The objective is to avoid money laundering, misappropriation of funds, fraud with credit cards and even bets for animal abuse
This April 9th, the House of Representatives of the US state of Michigan approved a bill that will include cryptocurrencies in the criminal codes of the region to prevent illegal actions for profit.
The House of Representatives voted 108 to 1, which means that legislators voted in favor of introducing amendments to several sections of the Michigan Penal Code and that the bill will now pass to the State Senate for its respective consideration.
In this way, the incorrect and correct use of cryptocurrencies will be defined in the provisions regarding money laundering, embezzlement, fraud with credit cards, and financial transactions executed with these assets to commit a criminal offense.
The Government representative Ryan Berman explains that the case of a dog fighting group, in which the organizer was processed, but not the individual participants, inspired the bill because those people placed their bets using cryptocurrencies.
The use of cryptoactives was not expressly prohibited by the law. However, from now on, neither these assets nor any other type of currency can be used against the welfare of the animals, as a way to protect these living beings and to avoid illegal bets.
Update of Criminal Codes
Berman went on to say that the new bill provides a much-needed update to the criminal codes that are being handled so far. The reason is that many of these laws were written in the 1990s when the technology was very different from the current one.
“Digital technology is part of our economy. It is part of our society. So now it’s going to be written in the law”, says the government official.
Taking into account the characteristics of cryptoactives and blockchain technology, the legislation defines cryptocurrencies as “digital currencies in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of monetary units and verify the transfer of funds, and that operate independently of a central bank”.
Previous Projects Waiting
In June last year, the Michigan State Legislature submitted two bills that label as “offense” the modification of data in a blockchain network. This is also an advance in legislation regarding the world of cryptocurrencies and distributed accounting technology. The idea is to prevent that blockchain be used to conduct illicit activities.
Section HB 6257 says that any person who “falsely makes, alters, or falsifies a public record” and intends to “harm or defraud another person” will be prosecuted for a “serious offense punishable by a prison sentence of no more than 14 years”. These actions will not be done using blockchain technology.
The other bill, named HB 6258, is a modification to the existing criminal code in Michigan, which seeks to include definitions about distributed accounting technology and cryptocurrencies.
Both bills were remitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee at the end of last year, although none of these measures has been adopted so far.
By María Victoria Rodríguez