7 October 2022
Russian Court Doesn’t Consider Bitcoin Theft As A Crime
A Russian court passed the judgment that cryptocurrencies are not legal tender because of which it rejected the appeal of the victim to ask criminals to return 100 stolen bitcoins.
The victim was kidnapped by the defendants in 2018 where he was forced to pay $90,000 worth of Russian Rubles and 99.7 Bitcoins which was worth $900,000 when the crime happened. The victim had requested the Russian court to force the criminals to pay all the amount stolen.
The court passed the judgment in which it demanded criminals to pay back the money stolen in Russian Rubles but it didn’t ask them to return the stolen Bitcoins. The court stated that bitcoins are classified as virtual currencies, and are not legal tender under Russian law. The criminals were sentenced to imprisonment of eight and ten years.
It is still possible that victims can appeal to a higher court to order the criminals to return the cryptocurrencies.
Due to COVID-19, Russian had experienced a cryptocurrency trading boom as people were allowed to dabble in virtual currencies while remaining in lockdown at home. Though cryptocurrency interest is prevailing in Russian citizens but the authorities have come up with a draft called “On Digital Financial Assets,” if approved, would enforce stricter measures regarding cryptocurrency.
Russia’s central bank has opposed the use of crypto in the country from the very start. The bank also stated that they will show support to any law that outlawed the use of crypto in the country.