Russia’s St Petersburg Court lifts cryptocurrency website ban

The case of BitcoinInfo, a cryptocurrency news website similar to Bitnewstoday in many parts, has been closed in favor of the Web portal. The previous verdict that the site contains forbidden information and because of that, must be blocked on the state level, has been cancelled.

The site was initially banned on the state level by the decision of the Vyborgsky District Court in St Petersburg. Defendants who found out about the verdict post factum have filed a complaint to the Russian Supreme Court. The latter ordered to review the prohibition, returning the case back to the regional level. The final decision belongs to the St Petersburg City Court.

The whole case was likely motivated by the negative statements of the Russian high-ranking prosecutors of the last year. The law enforcement viewed digital currencies as toxic instruments undermining the Russian ruble. Since then, the Russian authorities have greatly improved their knowledge on the topic and adopted three cryptocurrency laws - considering the alternatives, these acts could have had much more disadvantages including the total prohibition of the sphere in general.

While the common law does not exist in Russia, it is actually used when judges want to see how their colleagues previously decided to act on a certain topic. This case could have provoked a way of cryptocurrency websites bans in the country.

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