Roskomnadzor, Major Crypto Exchange, and Legal Aspects

It is no secret that the Russian Federation has a huge potential when it comes to cryptocurrencies. However, the situation regarding crypto exchanges is quite difficultt. For example, LocalBitcoins, a major peer-to-peer crypto exchange is no longer available in Russia, without using additional tools like a VPN.

It is worth noting that, LocalBitcoins.net is officially blacklisted in the country. The local telecom regulator Roskomnadzor placed the URL on a register of platforms disseminating prohibited information.

People should take into account that, the Onezhsky City Court of the Arkhangelsk region, ruled against the major crypto exchange. As a result, of this decision,o the website was blacklisted on July 21.

Unfortunately, the reason why Roskomnadzor limited access to LocalBitcoins’s website remains unknown. According to some local reports, users of this exchange began to experience difficulties in accessing the website in late September 2020.

So far, LocalBitcoins has not released an official statement regarding the situation.

Major crypto exchange and Roskomnadzor

As mentioned above, the telecom regulator placed the URL on a register of platforms disseminating prohibited information. It is worth mentioning that, the company risks losing one of its core markets. According to LocalBitcoins executives, Russia was the top trading volume market on the platform in April and May 2020.

However, the reputation of LocalBitcoins is far from being ideal. Apart from handling large amounts of crypto operations coming from Russia, there is another issue. According to the report prepared by CipherTrace, this exchange received more than 99% of criminal funds among Finish exchanges in the first five months of 2020.

Interestingly, LocalBitcoins is not alone, as recently Roskomnadzor blacklisted the website of Binance. As a reminder, Binance is the largest crypto exchange in the world. Last month more precisely on September 24, the Russian telecom regulator added the website to the register of platforms disseminating prohibited information.

Moreover, in August Roskomnadzor also blocked BestChange.ru. People should take into account that, BestChange.ru is a major cryptocurrency website in Russia. BestChange.ru provides an aggregator service of about 400 local crypto exchange websites.

Russian authorities should work with LocalBitcoins, Binance, as well as BestChange.ru to solve all the problems. Both sides should understand that it is possible to cope with challenges without strict measures. Russia has the potential to develop local companies.

However, it won’t be easy to develop this industry without cooperation between authorities and exchanges. Moreover, Russian authorities as well as lawmakers should pay more attention to cryptocurrencies.