Russian Central Bank Estimates 2023 Cryptocurrency Turnover

By the end of 2023, the cryptocurrency turnover potentially attributable to Russians could have reached nearly 5 trillion rubles ($54 billion). This is stated in the annual report of the Bank of Russia, according to TASS.

“An analysis of the crypto asset market indicates a potentially high level of Russian involvement in the crypto asset market. As of the end of 2023, the volume of bitcoin and ether flows on major crypto exchanges potentially attributable to Russians amounted to 4.78 trillion rubles,” the document states.

The Russian Central Bank also noted an increase in high-risk acquiring and P2P transactions through personal accounts, “facilitating shadow business settlements with Russian citizens and cryptocurrency transactions.”

“These operations are mainly conducted through accounts of proxy individuals—drops—who hand over control of their bank cards and access to remote banking services to third parties, and meet the criteria for suspicious (high-risk) operations,” the agency reported.

Earlier, Sber explained the procedure for unfreezing a card after cryptocurrency transactions. Clients are asked for exchange account data to confirm the source of funds.

In 2023, Russian courts considered 2653 cases related to cryptocurrencies, five times the number in 2021 (510).