Russian Crypto Exchange Transactions Worth $52B Last Year – Central Bank

Russian crypto exchange transactions amounted to almost $52 billion in 2023,
the nation’s Central Bank has revealed.,The bank says over $51.67 billion worth of
Bitcoin (BTC) and
Ethereum (ETH) transactions it monitored on “large crypto exchanges” was “potentially” traceable to Russian citizens.,However, by the Central Bank’s own admission, most Russians do not even use major crypto exchanges to trade coins. And that would suggest that the “real” figure could be much higher.,

The
Central Bank made the crypto claims in its annual report on the Financial Year 2023. The report’s authors wrote:,Likely, this figure does not tell the whole picture, however.,Per the bank’s own calculations, the
peer-to-peer (P2P) market has become “the main channel for acquiring cryptoassets in Russia.”,The bank has previously stated that “in the first half of 2023,” the average monthly volume of P2P transactions “among Russians” increased “by more than 50%.”,

The bank noted that its exchange-related data was based on calculations made using the blockchain analytics tool Prograchniy Blockchain (literally “Transparent Blockchain”).,The tool
is the brainchild of Rosfinmonitoring, the nation’s anti-money laundering agency. Rosfinmonitoring developed the tool in 2021, and claims it can trace citizens’ transactions across multiple blockchain networks.,Per a
Kommersant report from 2023, Rosfinmonitoring claimed that its tool is so accurate that it even helped police solve a crypto-powered contract killing case.,The tool provides government users with data on both the sender and the recipient of cryptoasset transactions.,In June 2023, a Russian IT firm claimed that
almost $300 million worth of crypto trades are made available “every day” on the nation’s P2P market.,The bank, meanwhile, claimed in December last year that it
noticed a “drop” in the number of Russians using major overseas crypto exchange platforms to buy and sell crypto.,Russian Crypto Exchange Use Dwarfed by P2P Market?