Supreme Crt to hear appeal of blocked bitcoin website owner Mar 21

MOSCOW, Mar 5 (PRIME) -- Russia’s Supreme Court will consider on March 21 a cassation appeal on a lower court’s decision to block website Bitcoininfo.ru, which published news about the bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, a high court spokesperson said on Monday.

The Vyborg District Court of St. Petersburg decided to block the resource in July 2016 on  prosecutor’s request. The website’s owner contested the move, but to no avail, and the decision came in force.

The lower court said that the bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies “fuel growth of the shadow economy,” and “boundless distribution of information about an electronic currency” is dangerous because cryptocurrencies are frequently used by arms and drugs dealers, and other criminals.

Russia does not treat the bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies as an official means of payment. The government, however, is working on the introduction of regulations in this industry.

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