Russian Telecom Regulator and a Major Cryptocurrency Website

Last month, the State Duma passed a bill titled “On Digital Financial Assets”. Interestingly, Russian authorities decided to provide legal status to cryptocurrencies. Nevertheless, the bill prohibits the use of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin as a payment method. On the last day of July, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the bill into law. As a result, payments in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are going to become illegal in Russia starting from January 2021. On August 26, the Russian telecom regulator blocked a major cryptocurrency website in the country.

Roskomnadzor blocked BestChange.ru. Notably, an aggregator of about 400 local crypto exchange websites was blocked by a telecom operator for mentioning bitcoin cryptocurrency. Interestingly, Roskomnadzor blocked BestChange.ru as well as a bunch of other industry sites
for that violation.

Nevertheless, the website is still available through VPN services and mirror websites like BestChange.net.

Cryptocurrency website and authorities

Based on the information provided by a major cryptocurrency website, the telecom regulator blocked BestChange.ru alongside websites like cryptowikepedia.ru and coinpost.ru. It is worth mentioning that, websites were offering to buy bitcoin as well as certain products using this currency according to court records.

As a reminder, it is illegal to use cryptocurrencies like bitcoin as a form of payment in Russia. Also, the distribution of information about these services by the websites is illegal.

Notably, BestChange.ru is one of the largest crypto websites in the country. In July 2020, the number of users reached 3.3 million. This website delivers a list of crypto exchange services, in addition to verifying as well as ratings for each platform.

Moreover, it was not the first time when authorities blocked BestChange.ru. They blocked this website in 2017. Nevertheless, the website remained available through a VPN. Furthermore, Roskomnadzor blocked the website for the second time in 2019. The law approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin will make it harder to develop the crypto industry in the country.