A Russian media outlet has reported a case of cryptocurrency theft which was waved off by a court in Russia. The Petrograd District Court of St. Petersburg made its ruling on the 30th of May as it brought the case to a close by ruling only partially, in favor of the victim.
The origin of the case dates back to 2018 when the victim was kidnapped by two men who were disguised as Federal Security Service Agents.
The two masterminds, along with several others nabbed their victim and threatened him into giving them 5 million rubles ($90,000) and 99.7 BTC. At the time, the stolen Bitcoins were valued at $900,000.
The court made its final verdict, sentencing the involved criminals who had initially pleaded “not guilty” to seven-ten years imprisonment.
However, the sentence was only for the stolen rubles and not for the Bitcoin theft, which the court dismissed as digital currencies have still not been regulated in the country, that is to say, that in Russia, cryptocurrency thefts do not qualify as criminal activities.
On different occasions, the Russian government has initiated laws that have hindered the regulation of Bitcoin. In a recent development, one denomination of the country’s federal government has presented yet another draft with the intention of accelerating the discussion on digital currencies in the country.
Titled “On digital financial assets”, the draft contains laws that assert that digital currencies of all kinds are not recognized as legal tenders. Instead, cryptocurrencies are seen as properties.
The draft also includes requirements for existing miners, requesting that all Bitcoin miners residing in the country register their activities under individual companies so as to be taxed accordingly. It was also disclosed that Russia’s President Putin, is working towards introducing a new tax model for miners, which was scheduled for the 1st of July.
As for the regulation of cryptocurrency activities, Russians have remained skeptical about whether the government can develop policies that extensively benefit cryptocurrencies. Echoing the sentiments of cryptocurrency users in the country, Artem Tolkachev the CEO of one of Russia’s digital asset investment company explained that he has no faith in the draft, which he believes to be a failed endeavor in the understanding of digital currencies.
Regardless of the new development, Peer to peer cryptocurrency trading has become very popular in the country. In May, Coin Dance Statistics revealed that 20% of the trading volume on the LocalBitcoins exchange came from Russia. This is the second time Russia comes first in a row. Even the global pandemic did not slow trading activities, instead, the research carried out by the RBC revealed that the country has witnessed an increase in trading volume since the beginning of the country’s lockdown.
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