The question of banning cryptocurrency has been a matter of discussion in Russia over the past two years. In August 2014, the Ministry of Finance developed a document that called for the introduction of fines up to $15,000 for the production and usage of bitcoin. Later, the amount of the fine was reduced. However, in September 2015, the Ministry started to actively advocate the introduction of a criminal penalty for circulation of virtual currency including bitcoins. They suggested punishing individuals by imprisonment for up to four years, and senior management of involved financial organisations for up to seven years.