User interest in internet piracy continues to grow in Russia

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According to the Russian “Kommersant” report, a study by Group-IB shows that in 2021, Russia’s Internet piracy market will drop to $50 million. For the third year, illegal video content revenue continues to decline. Experts say the cost of maintaining infrastructure for internet piracy is rising. This is because Russian regulators continue to block dubious transactions in online casinos and gambling. Of course, these are the major sponsors of video piracy.

Meanwhile, Group-IB experts warn that audience interest in internet piracy continues to grow as film distributors suspend work in Russia. The international streaming platforms are no longer working in Russia at the moment. After the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, many Western Internet companies announced the suspension of their business and product sales in Russia.

Kommersant has pointed out that in the past 90 days, the number of search requests to install pirated Windows 10 has increased by 80 – 250% due to problems with the system license version. Requests to download Microsoft Excel for free snowballed in June (650%).

Russia will ban cryptocurrencies and NFTs for payments

Russians would soon no longer be allowed to use digital assets as a payment method. According to reports, the Russian president has signed a bill banning the use of digital assets such as cryptocurrencies and NFTs to pay for goods and services. Additionally, the new bill requires cryptocurrency exchanges and providers to reject transactions.

The new Act stipulates:

The transfer or acceptance of digital financial assets as consideration for transferring goods, performing works, providing services, and in any other way allowing people to pay for goods (works, services) through digital financial assets is prohibited, unless otherwise provided by federal law.

In 10 days, the bill will go into effect and will ban cryptocurrency payments in Russia. Still, Russians can invest in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, according to Decrypt. NFT, the full name of Non-Fungible Token is currently popular in various digital artworks. It is also the only cryptocurrency token that represents digital assets.