Raids Conducted at Moscow Offices of Bitcoin Exchanges Beribit and ABCEX
On March 29th, law enforcement officers raided the office of the cryptocurrency exchange Beribit, located on the 52nd floor of the Federation Tower in “Moscow-City,” according to the Telegram channel Shot.
To gain entry, the authorities had to break down the door. At the time of writing, the Beribit website is not operational.
Equipment was seized from the exchange’s office, reports the Telegram channel Brief. The channel also provides a statement from Beribit representatives:
“We want to assure all our clients and partners that the funds and data of our users are completely secure, and no violations or grounds for sanctions against our platform were found during the inspection.”
They added that they have always adhered to “high standards of transparency, security, and regulatory compliance,” and that “such inspections are part of regular activities in the financial industry.”
According to SHOT, searches are also being conducted at the offices of several other cryptocurrency companies, including ABCEX.
“Representatives of the crypto exchanges attempted to withdraw crypto, but the operations were blocked,” the channel reports.
Representatives of ABCEX also confirmed that investigative actions were conducted in their office by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. They declined to comment on the reasons for the authorities’ visit.
However, clients were assured that all trading operations, including the withdrawal of cryptocurrencies from the platform, continue to function.
“The exchange does not allow the withdrawal of fiat funds to bank cards either directly or through the P2P section,” ABCEX emphasized.
Currently, the investigative actions have concluded, and the exchange’s lawyers “are in close contact with law enforcement representatives.”
The Garantex exchange stated that their office is operating normally.
In a comment to ForkLog, Anton Shkurenko, a technical consultant for the SmartSwap project, noted that any centralized platform effectively acts as an intermediary for fund transfers and must comply with banking norms regarding client identification.
“All centralized platforms will eventually be subject to the same rules as banking institutions. This sector might even come under bank management. Only decentralization can prevent this process,” he added.
Previously, media reported on investigations by the US and UK into Garantex for potential sanctions evasion. Authorities are examining USDT transfers through the platform amounting to $20 billion.
According to Transparency International Russia, several cryptocurrency platforms from “Moscow-City” provide anonymous transfer services abroad, including to the UK.
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