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New Russian Law Bans Bitcoin Payments for Goods and Services
24.7.2020
Russian lawmakers have passed a bill that gives legal status to cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin – but bans them from being used to pay for goods and services. Legislators approved the Digital Financial Assets (DFA) bill on July 22 after its third and final reading. It had already won backing...
Russian Lawmakers Finally Pass Country’s Major Crypto Bill
22.7.2020
Russia’s newly passed crypto bill finally provides a legal status to crypto, but does not allow it to be used as a payment method
Russia Shelves Plans to Criminalize Bitcoin Transactions – For Now
21.7.2020
Russia has dropped plans to criminalize bitcoin transactions – for now, according to local media reports. The Digital Financial Assets Bill (DFA), due to be read for the second time in the Russian parliament – or State Duma – on July 21, has removed references to administrative...
Updated Russian Crypto Bill Defangs Punishments for Using Crypto
20.7.2020
Newest version of Russian bill “On Digital Financial Assets” does not criminalize crypto usage, but there is one more bill that might
Russian Cybercrime Surged 25x in 5 Years, Says Local AG
17.7.2020
Russian cybercrime is up 92% since last year
Russian Activists Use Bitcoin, and the Kremlin Doesn’t Like It
15.7.2020
Activists and dissidents in Russia use crypto for fundraising – yet widespread adoption is still far away
Leaked Documents Suggest Former Wirecard Exec Was Linked to Secret Russian Gov Operations
10.7.2020
Jan Marsalek reportedly bragged of ties with Russian intelligence services and touted secret documents about chemical weapons used in the UK
Passport Data of 1M Russian Blockchchain Voters ‘Available Online’
10.7.2020
A Russian media outlet said that data on all 1.14 million Russians who used a blockchain platform to vote in the recent referendum on constitutional reform was made publically available on the internet – directly from a state-run server.
Per Meduza, a .zip file containing ID information, passport...
First Russian Crypto Law ‘to Be In Force by Start of 2021’
9.7.2020
Russia’s first crypto law “will be adopted by January 1, 2021,” said the bill’s chief architect, adding that the legislation is “now approaching the finish line.”
Per RBC, Anatoly Aksakov, the head of the State Duma’s financial committee and the man charged with mediating the “On Digital Assets”...
Russian Government Set to Enable Blockchain Voting for 2021 Elections
8.7.2020
Russian officials have indicated that they are happy with the use of blockchain-powered smartphone and PC voting – and intend to expand blockchain-based voting in next year’s parliamentary elections.
As previously reported, some 1.14 million Russians voted on a blockchain platform in the country’s...
Russian TON Investors Decry UK Firm’s ‘c. USD 1.5m Commission Fee’
6.7.2020
Russian investors in the failed Telegram Open Network (TON) token launch said they have reported a British brokerage they said is withholding almost USD 1.5 million of their funds to the Moscow-based federal investigating authority.
Per a Telegram post from Baza, the group has taken its case to...
Russian Courts Can’t Agree on Whether Crypto is Property
3.7.2020
A Russian court convicted two men for extortion, but did not force them to return around $100,000 in crypto since they have no legal definition as property. Other courts have taken a different view
Russian Court: Bitcoin Theft Not a Crime
3.7.2020
A Russian district court has dismissed bitcoin theft as a crime since cryptocurrency is not regulated in Russia and there is no legal status for bitcoin. The accused were found guilty, sentenced to prison, and ordered to return only the fiat money stolen — not cryptocurrencies....
A Russian Blockchain Referendum Voter Managed to ‘Spoil Their Ballot’
2.7.2020
Russian electoral officials are claiming success in the country’s recent referendum on constitutional reform – which saw the country make use of a blockchain-powered voting platform for the first time on a national scale. However, one tech-savvy voter appears to have pulled off a remarkable feat...
Russian Court Denies Theft Victim Access to Stolen Bitcoin
2.7.2020
A Russian court has denied a claimant the right to reclaim almos BTC 100 (USD 920,000), stating that crypto has no legal value – meaning courts are powerless to enforce property rights.
Per a Telegram post from the district court’s press office, in Russia’s second-largest city, St. Petersburg,...
Russian Court: Theft Of 100 BTC Isn’t A Crime Because Bitcoin Isn’t Property
1.7.2020
A Russian court turned down a request from a victim of a 100 Bitcoin theft seeking restitution, with the court arguing that cryptocurrencies have no legal status
Russian Traders Gear up for ‘Head Spinning’ Crypto Tax Season
1.7.2020
The Federal Taxation Service. Russian crypto owners have been warned that they have just a month before the taxman comes calling – with miners, custodians and traders all required to declare their profits.
Although the country is likely still “a year or more” away from comprehensive crypto laws...
Russian Blockchain-powered Voting Platform ‘Withstands Node Attack’
29.6.2020
The operators of Russia’s blockchain voting system say their platform successfully repelled a hacking attack in the nation’s referendum on constitutional reform.
Blockchain voting is being piloted in the cities of Moscow and Nizhniy Novgorod, and began on June 25. Citizens in both cities were...
New Zealand Police Seize $91 Million From Russian Bitcoin Exchange Operator
23.6.2020
Police in New Zealand confiscated NZ$140 million ($91 million) from Russian bitcoin exchange operator Alexander Vinnik. Vinnik is the alleged owner of the collapsed BTC-e exchange. The funds were seized from bank accounts held by Canton Business Corporation, a New Zealand-registered company...
‘Interesting’ Two-bill Plan May Save ‘Shambolic’ Russian Crypto Law
18.6.2020
Industry insiders say the Russian government’s cryptocurrency policy is “shambolic” and says Moscow “urgently needs to start doing its deliberation behind closed doors,” while other experts welcome a possible two-bill solution.
The comments came after another government ministry spoke out against...