Passport data from 1.14 million Russians is now available for sale on underground shops via the dark web. This data was stolen from citizens who voted in the country’s recent constitutional reform referendum, which utilized Blockchain technology. According to Kommersant, quoting information provided by the hackers, illegal sellers have already sold over “30 thousand lines” of a document that contains the leaked data. Lines are listed at a cost of $1.50 each, but the price-per-line goes as low as $1 for parties purchasing the data in bulk. Although passport data cannot necessarily be used for sensitive purposes, the sellers claim …

Pavel Durov, CEO of the popular encrypted messaging platform, Telegram, has denied reports that the firm is preparing to sell the company after the failure of Telegram’s blockchain project. According to an Aug. 5 report by local tech publication iXBT, Russia’s internet company Mail.ru is one of the parties interested in acquiring Telegram. Another is an as yet unidentified Russian billionaire. The information was reportedly shared by Russia-based trader and analyst, Kirill Promzin. As reported by iXBT, Promzin predicted Bitcoin’s 2017 bull run back in 2012, even calling the asset’s eventual high of $20,000. Shortly after the iXBT’s report was …

Sberbank, a state-owned company and the largest bank in Russia, is considering the possibility of issuing its own token, according to its key executives. Sergey Popov, director of the transaction business at Sberbank, says that Russia’s banking giant is thinking of issuing its own stablecoin that could be pegged one-to-one to the Russian ruble, local news agency Kommersant reported on Tuesday. Sberbank’s stablecoin would be compliant with the recently passed crypto law According to the report, the potential stablecoin could be used for settlements involving other digital financial assets. Popov reportedly noted that Sberbank would be able to issue the …

The Russian Federation has banned anonymous deposits to online wallets in a move that will affect 10 million users across the country. According to lawmakers, this initiative is supposed to curb illegal activity, such as the financing of terrorism and the illegal drug trade. 10M anonymous wallets are affected Online wallets through services such as Yandex, WebMoney, PayPal, and Kiwi are very popular in Russia. These services maintain approximately 10 million users who use the accounts anonymously by topping them up with cash. Some people use these anonymous wallets to purchase cryptocurrency, although the exact numbers are unknown. Experts say …

Over the course of the past few years, the cryptocurrency mining sector has started to gain a lot of mainstream financial traction. For example, market research firm Technavio recently released startling data claiming that the global mining hardware market is all set to grow by a whopping $2.8 billion between 2020 and 2024. This incredible surge was attributed to the rising popularity of mining pools, most of which are currently concentrated in China. Not only that, over the course of the past few months, companies like Btc.top have been seeking to redefine the concept of Bitcoin (BTC) acquisition, for example, …

Data from Bitcoin (BTC) marketplace Paxful shows a huge surge of interest in cryptocurrency peer-to-peer trading in Russia, with 350% growth on a year-over-year (YoY) basis. According to the study, from the period of May 2019 to May 2020, Paxful is now seeing an average monthly trading volume of $4M in Russia. The company says that this number “exceeds expectations,” together with the YoY usage increase figures. The last three-months saw a 42% increase, with May recording the best monthly performance amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus is one of the major drivers of growth according to Paxful. Lack of …

Cybersecurity firms have identified an exponential rise in crypto-related scams in Russia during the first half of 2020. Researchers identified 23,000 sites involved with crypto scams that are still online and targeting new victims. According to Kommersant, which cited research from Kaspersky Labs, the problem is three times greater than during the same period last year. One common example sees victims offered the chance to complete surveys in order to receive commissions — however they’re required to pay an “entrance fee” fee first. Another scam, identified by Qrator Labs, involved sites that offered victims more than $275 per hour to …

Two icons of tech — one American, one Russian — are hard at work trying to win back the jilted governments of their home countries by stirring up concerns over foreign competitors. When nationalism meets tech In a hearing tomorrow before the congressional Antitrust Subcommittee, Mark Zuckerberg plans to portray Facebook as the American champion to meet Chinese tech. Meanwhile, Pavel Durov has waged a similar campaign to rehabilitate Telegram in his native Russia, largely by painting U.S. tech as an invading force. It’s an interesting strategy, especially since the PR for both Facebook and Telegram has historically leaned into …

Despite Russia recently passing its first major legislation devoted to cryptocurrencies, the country’s central bank continues to treat the industry as a criminal area. Sergei Shvetsov, the first deputy governor at the Bank of Russia, has voiced the bank’s negative stance towards crypto investment. He compared cryptocurrency with financial pyramid schemes and roulette games. The official provided his remarks on the crypto industry during a July 28 live YouTube stream regarding Russia’s new bill on categories of retail investors. During the live session, Shvetsov emphasized that the Bank of Russia does not recognize crypto purchases as an investment. He said: …

Garmin, a multinational tech company, has been operating at less than full capacity following a ransomware attack launched by the Russian cybergang, Evil Corp. Garmin is being extorted for a $10 million ransom, to be paid in cryptocurrency. According to a report published by Bleeping Computer, an unidentified Garmin employee confirmed that the WastedLocker ransomware took down the company’s customer support services, navigation solutions, and other aspects of the U.S.-based firm. The leader of the cybercriminal group is a Russian individual named Maksim Yakubets. A known criminal, Yakubets was indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2019. He was …

Every Friday, Law Decoded delivers analysis on the week’s critical stories in the realms of policy, regulation and law. Editor’s note Without breaking out the fanfare prematurely, it has been a red-letter week for crypto news. Some of the biggest markets in the world are welcoming new laws and decisions that promise to upgrade global approaches to the industry. What we are seeing seems to be the early fruits of a broad harvest of interest in crypto, probably owing to something we’ve been talking about for months: The pandemic has people at the highest levels reconsidering how people transact. The …

Russia passed a major bill today related to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC). The State Duma — Russia’s legislative body — has passed a bill titled “On Digital Financial Assets” in its final third reading, local news agency Regnum reports July 22. After initiating the bill back in 2018, Russian authorities have finally agreed to provide a legal status to cryptocurrencies, preparing to adopt the first major part of legislation for the industry. Following the latest Duma’s decision, the bill “On Digital Financial Assets,” or DFA, is expected to be officially adopted in Russia on Jan. 1, 2021. The bill provides …