Russia Lifts Bitcoin Ban
Since the middle of the last year, the Russian government has been discussing the possible ban and criminalization of digital currency. Some Bitcoin related sites have even been blocked in a move that forced many of the Bitcoin Russian startups to close or go overseas. Last week, Russian courts overturned the ruling about blocking sites. Russian telecommunications regulator Roskomnadzor banned access to bitcoin payment systems in January this year by ordering internet service providers to restrict access to certain sites such as Bitcoin.org, Coinspot.ru and BTCSec.com, according to Gigaom.....
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Abkhazia, the self-governing but disputed territory of just 245,000 people sandwiched between Russia and Georgia, has lifted its two-year ban on cryptocurrency mining. The ban came into effect in December 2018 after a surge in mining activity left the region facing an energy crisis. Now, the government is moving to regulate the industry in an effort to flush out illegal miners as well as to control the amount of electricity utilized in the extraction of bitcoin. According to Abkhazia’s official cabinet website, the new plan will include regulation by the Ministry of Economy and a....
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A court in Ekaterinburg, Russia has effectively lifted the ban to Bitcoin-related websites blocked in January by authorities. The Sverdlovsk Oblast court has accepted the appeal of the blocked sites and dismissed the demands of the prosecutor’s office to leave the ban in place. The Bitcoin community in Russia feels that it efforts to win the struggle have paid off. The founder of BTCsec.com, Ivan Tikhonov, called the court decision “a victory for the Bitcoin community, our mutual victory.” “As a participant in the process, I am very happy with the court’s decision,” Tikhonov told....
It is impossible to stop the Bitcoin movement, that much has become evident. Excluding Bitcoin from Russia would do more harm than good in the long run. Russia has always had an unusual relationship with Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. It has been unclear how the situation will evolve for quite some time now. A new statement by the Bank of Russia hints at no further action being taken against the usage of Bitcoin. Another positive sign for Bitcoin on a global scale, although this does not mean cryptocurrency is legal in Russia all of a sudden. People have to keep in mind this statement does....
Writing for the New Republic, Evgeny Morozov has written a brief critique of what he dubs America's "innovation fetish." While not really spelled out in the article, there are some pretty obvious reasons to fetishize innovation. A look to the developing world reveals why. Innovation unleashed in a liberalized India, for example, has accelerated economic growth to 7 percent per year. Compounded, this growth will eliminate the very worst of Indian poverty in a generation of twenty years. Liberalization of the Chinese economy has pulled hundreds of thousands from grinding rural poverty to....