Russian Supreme Court to review legal status of cryptocurrency news websites

A small news portal on cryptocurrency has been blocked in Russia without proper notices to the site owners. Frustrated by this, they take their case to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation which has already agreed to review the case.

The court in St Petersburg has previously declared that this minor news portal called Bitcoininfo.ru is violating the provisions of the Russian law on Central Bank (where ruble is the only legal means of payment) and even “undermines the constitutional order of the Russian Federation” as well as “basics of financial well-being of citizens”. The lawyers of the site insist that there are no direct prohibitions of cryptocurrency in the existing laws and that the site had not encouraged anyone to trade on a specific platform or with a specific digital currency.

While the Russian legal system is not based around the case law, many courts prefer to review similar cases when making a final decision. This is why cryptocurrency observers and legal experts are now paying close attention to this story. It can influence the future of many Russian cryptocurrency-related websites.

The Telegram channel of the Russian Association of Blockchain and Cryptocurrency has reminded about the yesterday speech of the President. In that speech, aside from mentioning nuclear missiles, the President told about decentralization and new banking technologies. It seems that the RACIB founded because of presidential adviser Herman Klimenko does not endorse the view of that court in St Petersburg at all.

Image courtesy: Russian Supreme Court official website