The issue began with reports that Russian authorities raided the offices of cryptocurrency exchange Veribit in late March in connection with the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack. Later, Veribit, an officially licensed exchange in Russia, announced on Telegram that during the change of management, discrepancies were found in the company's financials and it had to be audited.
Tensions now appear to be boiling over, with more than 50 Veribit customers occupying the exchange's offices and demanding the return of more than $4 million in funds, according to Russian-language news site Gazeta.Ru. A video circulating on social media shows the company giving customers chocolates instead and promising to settle the deposit within 1 to 15 days.
The Verivit employees attempted to flee through the back door, but were stopped by an angry customer who called the police, the report said. Veribit has since processed the withdrawal and claims that the first payment has already been made to the customer, but other reports claim that the customer who received the funds is the one who filed a police report. That's all.
Russia's Duma considers exchange ban
Meanwhile, members of Russia's State Duma, the lower house of parliament, have proposed a bill that would ban cryptocurrency exchanges in the country, but government-registered cryptocurrency trading and mining companies would still be allowed, Gazeta reported. . The bill would also ban advertising of cryptocurrencies.
In response, another lawmaker said that such a ban would be a threat to Russia, as virtual currencies are used to buy weapons and other defense equipment from non-Western countries, circumventing sanctions and other restrictions. He argued that it would harm national security interests.
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