A major state authority in Russia has objected to the State Duma’s proposal to cancel the ban on Telegram’s encrypted messenger in the country. Russia’s Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media, also known as MinComSvyaz, doesn’t support a recent initiative to lift the two-year-long Telegram ban, local news agency Interfax reports May 26. Russia doesn’t need more services to spread information about COVID-19 On April 22, two deputies at the State Duma proposed a draft bill on terminating the ban of Telegram in Russia due to the coronavirus outbreak. The proposal stipulates that Telegram has become an “official …

Russian lawmakers have suggested punishments of up to 2 million rubles ($27,800) and seven years in prison for illegal turnover of digital assets and cryptocurrencies. As reported by the Russian business channel, RBC, the draft amendments to the administrative and criminal offences codes were confirmed as genuine, but have not yet been agreed into law. Sliding scale of punishment The punishments suggested are on a sliding scale, starting with administrative offences for violating proposed rules governing transactions using digital currencies in payment for goods or services rendered. In this case assets can be seized, along with fines issued from 20,000 …

Blockchain.com, a major cryptocurrency wallet and blockchain data provider, plans to support Russia’s national currency, the ruble (RUB). Although some big exchanges like Binance have introduced the Russian ruble, there is still no law authorizing circulation of crypto in Russia. On May 20, Blockchain.com announced its long-term roadmap, “The next era of crypto and 1B wallets by 2030.” In a post authored by Peter Smith, Blockchain.com CEO and co-founder, the firm outlined the addition of the Russian ruble as part of its mission to grow its current user base of about 50 million crypto wallets to 1 billion accounts by …

On May 12, Telegram officially terminated its involvement in its planned blockchain project, the Telegram Open Network, and its corresponding GRAM token. Apparently ending its long-running legal battle with the United States’ regulators, Telegram still needs to sort out $1.7 billion raised in an initial coin offering, or ICO, in 2018. Prior to abandoning the troubled TON project, Telegram CEO and founder Pavel Durov introduced a reimbursement scheme, offering TON investors two choices — immediate 72% refund, or a 110% refund in 12 months. Major $70 million investor is preparing to quit with 72% According to a May 16 report …

The major cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC), continues to be actively used for illicit activity. Anonymous hackers have taken the data of over 129 million Russian car owners to expose it on the darknet in exchange for cryptocurrency. The leaked information includes the full names, addresses, passport numbers and other data belonging to millions of Russian car drivers, Russian news agency RBC reported May 15. The stolen data is claimed to be leaked from the registry of Russia’s patrol jurisdiction, the General Administration for Traffic Safety of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. The authenticity of data has reportedly been confirmed …

A report from cybersecurity firm Check Point unveiled a new ransomware attack, where cybercriminals pose as the FBI to demand victims pay their "fine" by credit card. According to the April 28 report, the malware — known as "Black Rose Lucy" — is unusual, since there are no ransom payments involving cryptocurrencies like Bitcoins (BTC) and it affects users of mobile devices with Android as an operating system. Check Point had already tracked the beginnings of the malware since September 2018, originating in Russia as a "Malware-as-a-Service" (MaaS) botnet. However, it took the form of ransomware to make various changes …

After years of unsuccessful efforts to block Telegram in Russia, the country’s government is now considering lifting the ban due to the coronavirus outbreak. According to an April 22 report by Russian news agency Kommersant, two deputies at the State Duma have prepared a draft bill on terminating the ban of Telegram’s encrypted messenger app in Russia. If you can’t beat it, join it In the bill, the State Duma deputies reportedly argued that Telegram has become an “official service” used by state authorities to raise awareness about the measures to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic. The officials elaborated that local …

Nationwide lockdowns have become commonplace in a number of countries across the world as the global community tries to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. For weeks on end, people have had to hunker down in their homes and practice social distancing in order to “flatten the curve” of COVID-19’s spread. Setting aside the dire consequences this has had on the global economy, the situation has forced people to come up with a wide variety of ways to entertain themselves. While this lockdown may have brought a new meaning to “Netflix and chill,” even watching TV series and movies …

Russian authorities are not stopping their efforts to help Alexander Vinnik — an alleged fraudster who is accused of laundering as much as $4 billion in Bitcoin (BTC) — to return to his homeland. In another attempt to extradite Vinnik, the Russian Embassy reportedly requested that France place the alleged former BTC-e operator under house arrest in Russia. The latest extradition request is reportedly driven by intensifying concerns over Vinnik’s health amid the COVID-19 outbreak. The news was reported by Russia’s pro-government publication RT on April 15, citing Alexey Meshkov, the Russian Ambassador in Paris. France purportedly ignored Russia’s request …

The Russian Ministry of Communications has added Waves Enterprise to the Unified Register of Russian Software for Computers and Databases. Documents published by the Russian Ministry of Communications on April 7 reveal that Waves Enterprise was added to the list and described as a “cloud-based distributed ledger service and service for virtualization and storage of data.” The list is meant to ensure high information security standards for authorities by suggesting information technology products for use in Russian government bodies. Waves Enterprise head of marketing Matvey Voytov told Cointelegraph that – in order to be added to the registry — Waves …

Amid the global COVID-19 pandemic and concerns over ongoing quarantines and rising unemployment, more and more people around the world are apparently turning to crypto, Russia being no exception. According to data by cybersecurity firm Qrator Labs, people in Russia have become increasingly engaged with crypto exchange services amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. Crypto exchange-related traffic surges 5.56% in Russia Specifically, traffic on crypto exchanges in Russia surged 5.56% in the last week of March 2020 in comparison to February averages, a study by Qrator Labs reportedly said. Citing data from the study, Russia’s news agency RBC reported on the …

Russian authorities have detained a group of online criminals that reportedly sold massive amounts of counterfeit banknotes on the dark web in return for cryptocurrencies. According to an April 7 report from Russian news agency Kommersant, the criminal group has managed to sell more than 1 billion counterfeit Russian rubles, worth around $13 million as of press time. Criminals operated via Russia’s largest darknet marketplace As the country’s Ministry of Internal Affairs reported to Kommersant, the online perpetrators were operating currency counterfeiting via a darknet store on Russia’s largest darknet marketplace, Hydra. According to the report, the store was operating …