The Kungur City Court in the Russian Perm Krai region upheld a request filed by the Beryozovsky District Prosecutor’s Office to take down several websites describing various methods of cashing out bitcoin. The prosecutors who discovered the crypto platforms insist that publishing such content violates Russian legislation on combating the legalization of crime proceeds. “It was established that information on methods of cashing out the Bitcoin cryptocurrency was freely available for viewing and using on certain Internet resources,” a press release revealed. 

Russian court blocks websites explaining trading crypto.

Considering that the legislation considers the exchange of virtual currencies as potential involvement in dubious transactions, the prosecutor sent an administrative statement of claim to the court demanding to restrict access to this information, the press release further explained. The number of websites affected by the court order and their domain names were not disclosed, but Forklog quoted the prosecutor’s office saying that five such requests have been submitted since the beginning of the year. However, according to the publication, one of the claims concerns a YouTube video describing ways of exchanging bitcoin for Russian rubles.

Russia’s crackdown on crypto continues. 

Access to the websites subject to Kungur City Court’s latest decision will be restricted after the ruling enters into force, the Perm Prosecutor’s Office said, without providing any more details. The banned websites will join a growing number of crypto-related outlets that Russian authorities have taken down in the past few years. Not just Russia, several other countries have expressed concern over crypto regulations and have taken strict measures against the crypto industry. Earlier, U.S Senator Elizabeth Warren lashed out on cryptocurrencies and called them “a bogus and a lousy investment.” She also blamed bitcoin for contributing to the climate crisis.