Tagged: russia

December 14, 2018 @ 1:50 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Russian banking firm Sberbank announced earlier this week it is now allowing users in 42 Russian cities to make instant contactless payments using Pay-QR on smartphones. According to Sberbank, the project’s goals are to provide a convenient new QR code payment technology for individuals and a… Read More

November 21, 2018 @ 5:14 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The legal rights of a man at the centre of an international tug-of-war have been violated by the Greek justice system, a lawyer for accused BTC-e administrator Alexander Vinnik argued in court this week. “You have violated the rights of Alexander Vinnik, who hasn’t received… Read More

November 21, 2018 @ 11:10 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Yandex.Checkout, an online payments service based in Russia, announced on Wednesday its partners may now accept payments through Google Pay without any additional development required: the payment method becomes available to them as they send a request for it. This news comes just days after Yandex.Checkout announced it has integrated… Read More

November 15, 2018 @ 10:23 pm By Cali Haan  |  

In early November, SWIFT, the Belgium-based company that operates the global payments network of the same name, announced that “certain Iranian banks” would be cut off from using the service: “In keeping with our mission of supporting the resilience and integrity of the global financial… Read More

November 15, 2018 @ 9:19 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Yandex.Checkout, an online payments service based in Russia, announced on Thursday it has integrated with WeChat Pay. According to Yandex.Checkout, the new feature will notably be well suited for merchants who are working with Chinese tourists in Russia or looking for an opportunity to start… Read More

November 12, 2018 @ 8:55 am By JD Alois  |  

Automated peer to peer platform Robo.cash has issued a note saying Russian microfinance company MFC Zaymer is joining their platform. The company operates Zaymer.ru that offers short-term (payday) loans with interest rates for investors of 14% in Euros and up to 18% for loans originated in Rubles…. Read More

October 18, 2018 @ 8:30 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Yandex.Checkout and Sberbank have launched a new B2B Payments service allowing companies to accept online payments from corporate clients.  The new feature aims to reduce the payment process time frame to 1–3 minutes. Yandex.Checkout and Sberbank claim the title for the first platforms to offer… Read More

October 6, 2018 @ 9:44 am By Cali Haan  |  

Seven more Russian spies have been indicted in the US, charged with multiple counts of attacking industrial, sports, anti-doping and anti-chemical weapons organizations across the world. The personal records of rival athletes were also targeted. Prosecutors in the Western District of Pennsylvania also claim the… Read More

October 1, 2018 @ 9:17 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Russian bank Sberbank announced last week the launch of its new pilot project that will allow loans to be issued without proof of income. The bank reported that up to RUB 300,000 will be given per loan. Speaking about the project, Sergey Shirokov, Managing Director… Read More

September 20, 2018 @ 9:50 am By Cali Haan  |  

The Texas State Securities Board (TSSB) has issued emergency cease and desist orders against three ICO/cryptocurrency projects soliciting investors in Texas: Coins Miner Investment Ltd., DGBK Ltd. (DigitalBank) and Ultimate Assets LLC. All three projects allegedly used misleading information to promote their projects, and none… Read More

September 17, 2018 @ 7:53 am By Cali Haan  |  

Costs presently outweigh benefits, and so the European Central Bank (ECB), “has no plans to issue a central bank digital currency,” at this time, though it is investigating the matter, says ECB president, Mario Draghi. Draghi made the comments in a September 12th letter responding… Read More

September 12, 2018 @ 11:14 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Ivan Semagin, Deputy Director of the Financial Market Development at the Bank of Russia, told attendees at a finance and trade conference in Vladivostok this week that the Bank of Russia’s first “sandbox” trial of an ICO (intitial coin offering) blockchain system went well technically, though… Read More

September 11, 2018 @ 5:21 am By Erin Hobey  |  

The Waves Platform, a decentralized global platform offering an ecosystem for blockchain developers, has begun its process of activating Smart Contracts on the platform’s MainNet. According to the platform, Waves released a new system protocol for its blockchain, the first stage of the launch of Smart… Read More

September 8, 2018 @ 2:01 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Sberbank announced on Friday it has formed a partnership with international accelerator 500 Startups to launch a new program specifically for Russian IT startups. According to Sberbank, the accelerator program is designed for the following areas: E-commerce Digital medicine Lifestyle services Cloud B2B services Advertising… Read More

September 3, 2018 @ 9:32 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Police in Russia have seized all 22 Bitcoin ATMs belonging to the company BBFpro without warning, Russian media outlet RBC reports. Police are said to be acting on orders from the Prosecutor General’s Office, orders induced by a letter from the Central Bank of Russia… Read More

September 1, 2018 @ 1:28 pm By Cali Haan  |  

A Russian lawmaker, Vladimir Gutenev, told Russian news agency TASS  last week that Russia should consider ‘an asymmetric response’ to US pressure and sanctions, including deployment of nuclear weapons to Syria, suspension of missile non-proliferation treaties and development of a gold-backed cryptocurrency to help Russian… Read More

August 30, 2018 @ 4:39 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The agency responsible for combatting money laundering and terrorist financing in Russia is developing a software tool to help it monitor crypto transactions, particularly those done in Bitcoin, Russian BBC reports. Publicly available contract information shows that a crypto-tracking analytical software package has been ordered by the Federal… Read More

August 26, 2018 @ 1:31 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The head of Russia’s Main Directorate for Drug Trafficking, Andrey Khrapov, has asked the country’s legislators to require that all cryptocurrency transactions exceeding 600 000 rubles ($900 USD) be registered with or monitored by Russian authorities, Izvestia reports. Mr Khrapov reportedly contacted the Ministry of… Read More

August 25, 2018 @ 3:05 pm By Cali Haan  |  

Following invitations issued by local politicians last fall, the regional government of Leningrad in northwestern Russia has now announced the opening of the country’s, “largest data processing centre…designed to extract digital currency,” Bitcoin News reports. The 4000 square metre “crypto mine” and its 3000 machines… Read More

August 13, 2018 @ 11:30 pm By Cali Haan  |  

A new report from Group-IB, a computer forensics and information security company with offices in Moscow, London, New York and Dubai claims to have identified an almost four-fold increase in “compromised (customer) login data” at global cryptocurrency exchanges this year. The company also found that… Read More