A large Russian mining company faces legal problems in St. Petersburg as three people accuse the company of fraud. Cryptouniverse is now on trial after a city court issued a penal order later in the week.
A district court declined to initiate criminal proceedings against the company in 2020
According to RBC, the St. Petersburg City Court accepted appeals from three customers of Cryptouniverse – a Bitcoin (BTC) and Litecoin (LTC) miner founded in 2018 – and believed the case should be brought to trial.
Initially, the legal battle against the company made headlines in August 2020. Businessman Alexei Burik launched the legal initiative claiming that Cryptouniverse allegedly embezzled its crypto mining machines and its mined coins valued at 25 million rubles ($ 340,000).
At the time, the Kuibyshevsky District Court rejected the police decision to initiate criminal fraud proceedings with the now involved trio after the mining company appealed.
Since the St. Petersburg City Court accepted the request of the three people, the criminal case is directed against Mikhail Kvasnikov, General Director of Cryptouniverse, who owns around 60% of the company.
Experts cited by RBC have stated that most legal cases against crypto mining farms like Cryptouniverse are related to a sudden change in device terms of use. However, such changes do not benefit customers at all, according to the experts.
Is the lack of regulation in Russian crypto mining affecting business?
But the problem is deeper than it seems. The Union of Crypto Miners in Russia blames the expensive costs of installing crypto mining rigs in private homes. Hence, people are indirectly forced to rely on mining data centers.
According to Maxim Nikolaev, coordinator of the Crypto Miners Union in Russia, the lack of regulation in the crypto mining industry is, in some ways, triggering such legal problems with mining companies.
In addition, the lack of a legal framework opens the door to affect the profits of crypto mining companies’ customers, experts say.
What do you think of this legal battle against Cryptouniverse? Let us know in the comments below.
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