Russia | Crypto

Russia has shut down nine unregistered crypto exchanges in Moscow, with the FSB alleging they helped move scam proceeds abroad through Ukrainian call centers. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has raided nine unregistered crypto exchange services in Moscow over alleged money laundering involving fraud proceeds that authorities linked to Ukraine-based scam call centers. The agency said it detained more than 20 employees at the Moscow International Business Center (Moscow City) as part of an operation targeting channels allegedly used to move illicit funds abroad through crypto assets, according to an official statement on Friday. The FSB said the exchanges converted money stolen from Russian victims of phone scams into cryptocurrency and transferred it to accounts belonging to what it described as Ukrainian handlers. Read more

Russia has added Moscow, the Moscow Region and parts of Kursk Region to its cryptocurrency mining ban list, citing power supply concerns behind the restrictions. Russia has expanded its cryptocurrency mining restrictions to Moscow, with the ban set to take effect on Aug. 15, 2026, and remain in place through Dec. 31, 2032. Russia’s Resolution No. 936, signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on July 25, 2026, amends an earlier mining restriction order issued in December 2024, according to records published on Pravo.ru. The updated rules add Moscow, the Moscow Region and several territories in Russia’s Kursk Region to the list of restricted areas. The measure expands existing restrictions on cryptocurrency mining in areas facing electricity supply concerns. The ban also covers eight municipal districts and the city of Lgov in Kursk Region. Read more

The Telegram founder said Russia designated him a terrorist after he refused government demands for mass surveillance and censorship on the messaging platform. Telegram founder Pavel Durov said Russian authorities designated him a “terrorist” after he refused government demands for mass surveillance and censorship on the messaging platform, responding publicly a day after Russia announced charges against him. In a Telegram post on Thursday, Durov also said Russia had barred him from “publishing information on the Internet,” adding that authorities had “got confused about who can ban whom from the Internet.” Source: Telegram, Pavel Durov Read more

Russian authorities charged BitRiver founder Igor Runets with alleged fraud tied to a $8 million crypto mining equipment deal involving Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska. Russian authorities have charged BitRiver founder Igor Runets with alleged fraud involving about 1 billion rubles ($12.5 million), expanding the criminal case against the executive of one of Russia’s largest crypto mining-linked companies. Runets was officially charged with large-scale fraud over an alleged failure to deliver crypto mining equipment under an $8 million contract, local news agency Pravo reported on Wednesday. Investigators allege that Fox, a company controlled by Runets, signed the contract in 2023 to supply the equipment to a company within an industrial group founded by businessman Oleg Deripaska. Authorities say that while the buyer paid $7.9 million upfront, the equipment was not delivered within the agreed 32-day period. Read more

Russia’s FSB says Telegram founder Pavel Durov faces a terrorism-related charge and an international arrest warrant, while a separate French case remains open. [Update, 11:13 am UTC: Adds wanted list clarification in third paragraph.] Russian authorities have placed Telegram founder Pavel Durov on an international wanted list as they escalate a criminal case accusing him of facilitating terrorist activity. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Wednesday that it had charged Durov with facilitating terrorist activity and issued an international warrant for his arrest, local news agency Interfax reported. Read more

Russia’s biggest bank plans to create cryptocurrency trading infrastructure by Dec. 1 as the country is set to establish rules for market participants while allowing crypto assets to be used in foreign trade operations. Sberbank, Russia’s biggest bank, plans to build cryptocurrency trading infrastructure including a digital depository no later than Dec. 1 as the country brings crypto trading, custody and settlement into its regulated financial system. That digital depository, Interfax reported, will record ownership of cryptocurrency and process most transactions outside of the main blockchain. Sberbank will operate active wallets for client-initiated deposits, withdrawals and transfers. “One of the key elements of the new infrastructure will be a digital depository, which will maintain records of clients’ cryptocurrency rights and account for transactions outside the main blockchain,” said Alexander Vedyakhin, first deputy chairman of Sberbank’s management board, the state-affiliated press service said. “It ...

New regulations for crypto trading, custody, and settlement in Russia take effect Sept. 1, with requirements for licensed intermediaries applying from July 2027.

Russia’s State Duma is set to consider the crypto regulation bill in second and third readings, with rules for investors and cross-border payments included. Russia’s parliament, the State Duma, is preparing to hold final readings on a bill to regulate the cryptocurrency market. The draft bill No. 1194918-8, titled “On Digital Currency and Digital Rights,” will undergo second and third readings on Tuesday, according to Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, as reported by RBC. The bill would introduce limits for non-qualified investors, including a 300,000 ruble ($3,800) annual limit on crypto purchases through a single intermediary and a 100,000 ruble limit for transfers abroad. Qualified investors would face higher limits of 3 million rubles for purchases and 1 million rubles for transfers abroad, respectively. Read more

The reported December launch matters because Russia’s new rules may make custody, limits, and compliance the price of legal access. The post Russia’s legal crypto on-ramp to arrive with a state-owned bank holding the keys appeared first on CryptoSlate.

EU authorities already preemptively sanctioned Russia’s digital ruble in 2025 as part of measures in response to the country’s war against Ukraine. Russia’s central bank governor, Elvira Nabiullina, confirmed that the country was prepared to roll out its central bank digital currency (CBDC) in two months, following the timeline it laid out last year.  According to a Thursday report from Russian state media outlet RIA Novosti, Nabiullina said that “everyone is ready” for a Sept. 1 digital ruble launch. The CBDC will launch as a complement to Russia’s fiat currency, the ruble, and will initially be accepted by financial and credit institutions. “We want the digital ruble to be in demand by people and businesses, to be convenient, and, of course, we're constantly discussing [...] what functionality to develop,” said Nabiullina in a translated statement. Read more

The ELR gives selected firms a legal route, but wallets, exchanges, counterparties, and issuers still face pressure. The post Russia creates crypto sanctions loophole, but cash-out routes remain ringfenced appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The proposed measures would ban transactions on 11 crypto platforms and expand sanctions targeting networks accused of helping Russia evade restrictions. The European Union proposed banning transactions on 11 crypto platforms as part of its 21st sanctions package against Russia. Kaja Kallas, vice president of the European Commission and the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, outlined measures targeting banks, weapons manufacturers, oil traders, refineries and other entities outside the bloc. “We will also tighten our ban for crypto-asset services to certain third countries, add new designations, and ban transactions on 11 crypto platforms,” Kallas said in a post on X. Read more

Political activist Bill Browder, the teenager’s father, said his son was “the first high school student in the world to be sanctioned by an authoritarian regime” over a report on the ruble-pegged stablecoin A7A5. Alexander Browder, the son of American-British political activist Bill Browder, said that he has been targeted by Russia over allegations that officials used the ruble-pegged A7A5 stablecoin to evade sanctions amid the country's war on Ukraine. In a Wednesday X post, Browder said his work through the website Global Cryptocurrency Laundering Database had resulted in him being “sanctioned by an authoritarian regime for uncovering corruption.” Specifically, he alleged in a March report that A7A5 was backed by deposits from Russian financial institution Promsvyazban and was used to circumvent Western sanctions stemming from Russia’s war on Ukraine. “The Ruble-backed stablecoin A7A5 is one of the most prevalent issues facing the West. It is sanctioned in the UK, US and EU but it still operates,” said Brow...

The A7A5 stablecoin was designed to bypass sanctions imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Western governments spent three years building what they believed was an airtight financial blockade around Russia, severing its banks from SWIFT, freezing sovereign reserves, and barring major institutions from clearing dollar transactions. And according to British authorities, Russia may have spent much of that same period engineering an alternative financial system designed to circumvent it […] The post UK treats crypto network like a sanctioned bank after claims it processed $90B for Russia appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Formerly Huobi Global, the exchange is the latest entity to be named as part of a crackdown on companies “exploited by Russia to circumvent UK sanctions.” The UK government has added cryptocurrency exchange HTX to its list of sanctioned entities over its support of Russia. On Tuesday, UK authorities said that there were “reasonable grounds to suspect” HTX, formerly Huobi Global, has been supporting Russia’s government through financial services and funds facilitated by the A7 Limited Liability Company and Garantex, other sanctioned entities. The crypto exchange, headquartered in Panama, was the latest to be named as part of a crackdown on entities “exploited by Russia to circumvent UK sanctions.” “If the Kremlin thinks it can evade our sanctions by hiding behind crypto networks and shadow financial systems, it is gravely mistaken,” said UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper. Read more

The European Union noted that Russia has become increasingly reliant on cryptocurrency to circumvent sanctions.

Russian lawmakers passed a first reading of a bill regulating crypto through licensed intermediaries, with key rules set to take effect in July 2026 and 2027. Russia’s lower house of parliament passed a bill in first reading on Tuesday that would create the country’s core legal framework for digital currency, moving Moscow closer to a system that channels crypto trading through licensed intermediaries under Bank of Russia oversight. The draft bill No. 1194918-8, titled “On Digital Currency and Digital Rights,” passed its first reading in the State Duma on Tuesday, according to official records. The bill would allow Russians to buy and sell crypto through approved intermediaries as early as July, while banning unlicensed crypto platforms beginning in July 2027, if the draft becomes law. Read more

Individuals and groups would be required to register with the Bank of Russia before offering certain crypto services, or potentially face fines and prison time. Russia’s government submitted a bill to its parliament’s lower house in an effort to amend the country's legal code to attach criminal liability for crypto services offered without regulatory approval or licensing. In a draft law sent to the State Duma on Friday, Russian lawmakers proposed that entities "carrying out activities related to the organization of digital currency circulation,” that operate without a license from Russia’s central bank, could be subject to criminal liability. Without registration with the Bank of Russia, individuals could face up to $4,000 in fines and up to four years in prison, or more severe penalties if part of an organized group. Read more

Binance rejected the allegations, saying it flags suspicious activity, enforces strict compliance procedures and does not permit Iranian users on the platform. A senior US lawmaker launched a congressional inquiry into crypto exchange Binance following reports that the platform processed about $1.7 billion in transactions tied to sanctioned Iranian entities and Russia’s oil “shadow fleet.” On Tuesday, Senator Richard Blumenthal, ranking member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, sent a letter to Binance CEO Richard Teng requesting documents and internal records related to the exchange’s sanctions controls and compliance practices. Citing reporting from the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Fortune, Blumenthal said Binance compliance staff had identified two partner entities, including Hexa Whale and Blessed Trust, as intermediaries enabling trade with Iranian government-linked organizations. Internal investigators also reportedly traced transfers to wallets associated with Iran’s Isl...