22 Crypto ATM-s Confiscated by Russian Authorities

22 cryptocurrency ATM-s have been seized in Russia by law enforcement officials. ATM-s were located at restaurants and shopping centers in ten different cities. Orders to seize the technology came directly from the Prosecutor’s Office and the Central Bank.

All the confiscated automated teller machines were operated by Bbfpro. This company has huge network of bitcoin ATM-s, cross the vast country, RBC reported quoting lawyer Sarkis Darbinyan from the Digital Rights Center (DRC) who is representing the company’s interests.

One of the owners of Bbfpro, Artem Bedarev has told local newspapers that Bbfpro had not received any queries from the authorities prior to the confiscation of ATM-s. Bedarev was told by authorities that he will not receive his seized machines before at least 6 months – this is the approximate time the investigation will take.

All this has been somewhat unexpected, because legislation in the Russian Federation does not prohibit the acquisition of cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrencies (owning, trading, mining etc) have not been regulated in Russia, yet legalized.