A Russian court cited the reason that cryptocurrencies are not legal tender and rejected a request for criminals to return 100 BTC stolen from a victim because Bitcoin is “technically” not a property in Russian law. According to the IBtimes report, the victim, who was kidnapped by the defendants two years ago, requested the court to force the criminals to pay all the amount stolen, which included $90,000 worth of Russian Rubles and 99.7 Bitcoins which was worth $900,000 at the time when the crime happened. Now those bitcoins are worth $921,000.
The court ordered criminals to return the money stolen in rubles.
The Russian court ordered the criminals to return the money they stole in Russia’s national currency rubles. However, it did not grant the order to return the stolen Bitcoins. The court said that Bitcoin is classified as virtual currency, and it is not a legal tender under Russian law. It is not property as well, so it cannot be returned the court argued. The defendants were sentenced to eight- and ten-year in prison. Currently, Russia has no specific regulations regarding cryptocurrencies.
Russia experiences a crypto trading boom amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Russia recently witnessed a cryptocurrency trading boom, sparked by the shutdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which allowed people to dabble in virtual currencies while remaining in lockdown at home. Despite the increasing interest of Russian citizens, the authorities have drafted a law called “On Digital Financial Assets,” if approved, would enforce stricter measures regarding cryptocurrency. The central bank of Russia has opposed the use of crypto in the country from very starting. Russia’s central bank had earlier said that they would support any law that outlaws the use of crypto in the country. Russian President Vladimir Putin had said that no country can have its centralized cryptocurrency as they work beyond borders.
