By several measures, Russia has become a major crypto market despite stringent sanctions. Chainalysis ranked Russia 10th globally on its 2025 Crypto Adoption Index, the highest of any Eastern European country. Independent research estimates 9.2 million Russians (~6% of the population) actively hold cryptocurrency as of mid-2024, though up to 20 million may have engaged with crypto at some point, per broader surveys.

Adjusted for population and purchasing power, Russian on-chain crypto flows now rival those of major Western economies. In fact, Chainalysis notes Eastern European nations, led by Russia and Ukraine, dominate adoption.

This data suggests crypto has penetrated well beyond niche circles in Russia, with millions of residents now holding or trading digital assets.

Young Russians Drive Crypto Adoption Amid Economic Pressures

Crypto use in Russia is driven largely by young, digitally savvy investors. Surveys show that awareness of digital currencies is very high. By late 2024, roughly 66 percent of Russians had at least some knowledge of crypto, while actual participation remained modest. The survey found about 21 percent of adults had tried crypto at least once, mainly out of curiosity or for savings, and only 2 percent were active traders.

Importantly, holders are mainly young people, mirroring global trends. One report noted that the largest share of crypto owners worldwide (34 percent) is aged 24–35, reflecting global trends in Russia as well. Many cite ruble inflation, banking limits, or FOMO as motivations.

In recent years, the Russian government itself has viewed crypto as an alternative payment method to use while sanctions are in place. A weaker ruble has also made Bitcoin and stablecoins attractive to some households as hedges. However, the average Russian crypto holder still appears wary.

In a further survey by the financial marketplace “Sravni” from 2024, 89 percent of respondents owned no crypto, and 79 percent said they did not plan to buy any. Even so, that 15–21 percent minority of adopters represents millions of people, and adoption is rising steadily.

Russia’s Crypto Ecosystem: Global Exchanges vs. State Control

Russia’s crypto ecosystem continues to be shaped by both global exchanges and a large number of unregulated local/offshore platforms. Exchanges like Binance and Bybit, often offering Russian-language support and P2P mechanisms, remain heavily used even as regulators tighten restrictions.

According to a 2025 Chainalysis report, over 100 no-KYC/unlicensed platforms were active in 2024, receiving more than $1.5 billion in value, largely from Russian clients. Meanwhile, the state is investing in its own digital infrastructure.

The Finance Ministry is developing an Experimental Legal Regime (ELR) with the central bank to create domestic crypto rails. Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov believes that building a national crypto ecosystem, including exchanges and mining, is the way to go.

While P2P trading dominates, regulated domestic exchanges are emerging, which are now required to register and keep user records, as local firms expand crypto and payment services.

Sberbank and MOEX Lead Russia’s Institutional Crypto Push

Corporate Russia is warming to Bitcoin and all things blockchain. In mid-July, Sberbank, the country’s largest lender, announced plans to offer crypto custody services, aiming to lead the market. Sberbank’s alternative payment solutions division executive director, Anatoly Pronin, suggested regulating crypto like bank deposits, with state-backed guarantees, a move analysts see as expanding state control over a space still dominated by private and foreign custodians.

Other giants like the Moscow Exchange (MOEX) are rolling out crypto-linked products for accredited investors. In June this year, MOEX launched ruble-settled Bitcoin futures tied to the U.S. ETF IBIT. The central bank now allows financial institutions to offer non-deliverable crypto derivatives and securities to qualified investors. Crypto inflows into Russia jumped about 51 percent in Q1 2025, reaching 7.3 trillion rubles ($81.5 billion).

Mining companies are scaling operations, and payment networks are testing pilots. Late 2024, President Vladimir Putin endorsed crypto innovation, legalizing all mining and declaring that “no one can prohibit the use of Bitcoin,” showing growing official comfort with crypto’s role in trade, despite ongoing regulatory caution toward retail use.

Russia’s Crypto Rules: Balancing Control and Global Trade

Russia’s crypto policy is restrictive but gradually shifting. Since 2021, crypto ownership and trading have been legal, though domestic payments remain banned. Transactions over 600,000 rubles must be reported, and providers face strict KYC/AML rules.

In July 2024, the Russian parliament approved a law allowing crypto in international trade to bypass sanctions. This created an experimental payment system for exporters while keeping local crypto payments illegal.

The government has moved from near bans in 2021 to a more strategic stance, tightly controlling crypto at home but embracing it abroad.

At the same time, regulators warn consumers about volatility and fraud and continue expanding oversight. For example, proposals would require all crypto exchanges (foreign or domestic) to register and retain users’ data for years. In practice, this means Russians must use vetted Virtual Assets Service Platforms (VASPs) or peer-to-peer (P2P) channels, not anonymous markets, if they want a legal crypto account.

Russia’s Crypto Future: Mainstream by 2025?

Russia’s crypto market is growing quietly but steadily in the face of tough regulations. A tech-aware population, plus economic pressures like inflation and sanctions, are driving interest in digital assets.

Millions of Russians now include crypto in their investments, and banks are building systems to support it. With backing from Sberbank and the Finance Ministry, crypto is moving from the margins to the mainstream.

2025 could mark the year it becomes a recognized part of Russia’s financial system.

#Crypto #Blockchain #DigitalAssets #DeFi #Russia

Author: Ayanfe Fakunle

The editorial team at #DisruptionBanking has taken all precautions to ensure that no persons or organizations have been adversely affected or offered any sort of financial advice in this article. This article is most definitely not financial advice.

See Also:

How Strong Will The Russian Ruble (RUB) Be in 2025? | Disruption Banking

The Role of Elvira Nabiullina’s Monetary Policy in Making Russia “Sanctions Proof” | Disruption Banking

After experiencing a record-breaking wave of liquidations last Friday, investors in the options market are preparing for potential further volatility and declines in Bitcoin and Ethereum by actively positioning protective measures against a new round of potential sharp drops.

Market participants noted that panic selling and liquidity shortages caused severe volatility, leading to over USD 19 billion worth of leveraged positions being forcefully liquidated in the cryptocurrency sector last Friday.

Cryptocurrency analysts stated that this was the largest collapse within a 24-hour period in market history, nine times the scale of the February 2025 crash and 19 times larger than both the March 2020 crash and the November 2022 FTX collapse event.

Bitcoin fell as low as USD 104,782.88 between October 10 and 11, after reaching an all-time high above USD 126,000 on October 6. The second-largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum, dropped 12.2% last Friday to a low of USD 3,436.29.

Altcoins suffered even more significant setbacks: HYPE (-54%), DOGE (-62%), and AVAX (-70%) all experienced substantial pullbacks, followed by partial recoveries but still recorded considerable losses.

However, Trump softened his tariff rhetoric over the weekend, stating that ‘everything will be fine.’ This helped fuel a rebound in cryptocurrencies.

“We saw volatility spike across the board last Friday, not only in short-term options but also in long-term ones. Market sentiment on short-term volatility indicates growing concerns about downside risks,” said Sean Dawson, Director of Research at Derive.xyz in Canberra.

Data from the cryptocurrency options trading platform Derive.xyz shows that traders are heavily purchasing ‘put options’ for Bitcoin and Ethereum, signaling that the market is hedging against potential downside risks.

Dawson pointed out that in the Bitcoin market, there has been a significant volume of put options being purchased with strike prices of $115,000 and $95,000, set to expire on October 31. Meanwhile, call options with a strike price of $125,000 expiring on October 17 have sharply shifted from being predominantly bought to predominantly sold, indicating a short-term shift towards pessimism in the market.

Nick Forster, co-founder of Derive.xyz, stated that in the Ethereum market, traders are focusing on options with strike prices of $4,000 (expiring on October 31) and $3,600 (expiring on October 17). He also observed substantial buying of put options with a strike price of $2,600 expiring on December 26. He noted that these strike prices suggest bearish sentiment is persisting into the year-end.

Despite the sharp decline, Willy Woo, a top on-chain analyst with over a million followers on the X platform, pointed out that the flow of funds among Bitcoin investors remains robust, which could be why it outperformed expectations amid the stock market slump. In contrast, he observed a significant drop in Ethereum’s fund flows, while Solana continued to weaken. He believes capital from altcoins may be rotating into Bitcoin rather than exiting the cryptocurrency ecosystem altogether.

Altcoins (cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin) are generally considered high-risk, high-reward investments. While some altcoins have indeed delivered substantial returns, many projects ultimately fail or lose liquidity. On the other hand, Bitcoin is widely regarded as a ‘blue-chip’ crypto asset and is commonly held by institutions.

“The good news is that this crash has cleared excessive leverage and temporarily reset market risks,” said Nic Puckrin, cryptocurrency analyst and co-founder of Coin Bureau. “However, Bitcoin now faces another tough battle: it must break through key resistance levels to achieve meaningful new all-time highs this year.”

They crane their necks to get a glimpse of the helicopter as it descends on the lawns of Donald Trump’s Virginia golf club.

The event is black tie, a gala, a chance to dine with the president of the United States.

This invite is one money can buy. A kind of money, at least.

To get into this room, the guests have had to invest real money into the official Trump cryptocurrency. Collectively, they hold about $US150 million ($229 million) worth of the coin.

The group watches as he exits the helicopter and cheers as he enters the room.

Donald Trump’s wealth, and that of his family, is skyrocketing.

Trump says he has stepped back from his business ventures since taking office, and his interests are now held in trust by his sons.

But critics say he is operating like no president has before, mixing business and politics in a way that may violate the US constitution and threaten the very foundations of American democracy.

His links to a plethora of business activities and cryptocurrency ventures have opened him up to accusations of conflicts of interest and profiting from the presidency.

‘He can do whatever he wants’

The event in Virginia was billed as a reward for the top 220 holders of the Trump cryptocurrency, called $TRUMP, which launched three days before his inauguration.

The Trump family makes money when the currency is traded.

In crypto circles, it is considered a “meme coin”, a kind of collectible inspired by internet trends that can be bought and sold, but has no guaranteed real-world value or practical application.

One of the investors in the room was 25-year-old Nick Pinto.

The Lamborghini-driving Floridian got into crypto early and has made a lot of money from it.

He knows the money he has poured into $TRUMP has made the president and his family richer.

“I don’t mind that Trump is profiting off this currency because I am involved in the crypto space and the fact that he’s involved in cryptocurrency at all drives the price up, and when the price goes up, I’m profiting,” he tells Four Corners.

“So any time he tweets something about the currency, the price will go up or down.

Pinto bought $TRUMP early, and then topped up his holdings to guarantee he would get a ticket to the gala. By the big night, he held about $US370,000 worth.

All he wanted in return was to film a TikTok or at least get a selfie with the president.

Within four months of launching, the token had generated $US320 million in trading fees.

The bulk of this went to those behind the meme coin. This included the Trump family.

Skin in the game

A former cryptocurrency sceptic, Donald Trump’s conversion began on the 2024 campaign trail.

In May that year, he met members of a powerful crypto lobby spearheaded by leading Bitcoin advocate David Bailey. In July, he appeared at the group’s conference, where he pledged to run a crypto-friendly administration if re-elected.

Watching closely was Corey Frayer, a senior adviser for crypto markets and financial stability to the chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) at the time. He and his boss, Gary Gensler, had been cracking down on crypto.

“Almost the entire crypto industry is propped up by a belief and faith that there is something behind all of the magic of creating a crypto token,” Frayer tells Four Corners.

In September, just seven weeks out from the presidential election, the Trump family joined the crypto industry themselves.

Trump and his sons launched their own crypto platform called World Liberty Financial, with longtime Trump confidante Steve Witkoff and his sons as business partners.

The platform allowed people to invest through selling a token, with 75 per cent of the profit from each sale going to the Trump family.

It was a remarkable turnaround from the man who called Bitcoin a “scam” in 2021 and whose family had made its fortune from tangible assets like real estate, resorts and casinos.

Frayer noticed a change in the presidential candidate’s campaigning.

“He announced, to much applause, that he would fire the strong regulator, Gary Gensler, over his crypto policy,” he says.

“He started courting a lot of donations from the crypto lobby for his campaign, and all of that was very clearly driven by his new financial interests in this industry.”

Corey Frayer believes there are other potential risks in a president being so invested in crypto.

“The transactions can be nearly anonymous,” Frayer explains

The World Liberty Financial website states that Donald Trump was removed from his role with the company when he re-entered the White House. Steve Witkoff, now Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, also left his role after taking office. Both Trump’s and Witkoff’s sons, however, are still actively involved in the business.

In March this year, World Liberty Financial announced it had sold $US550 million worth of its token. Four Corners estimates this has delivered $US390 million in revenue to the Trump family.

The White House told Four Corners that Donald Trump’s personal assets were in a trust managed by his children and have nothing to do with his presidential decision-making.

Business and politics

Critics say the blurred lines between where Trump’s businesses end and the presidency begins heighten the risk of conflicts of interest.

While Frayer was at the SEC, it was pursuing Chinese-born entrepreneur and crypto billionaire Justin Sun over allegations of civil fraud.

Sun once bought a piece of conceptual art — a banana gaffer-taped to a wall — for $US6.2 million and then ate it.

He made two investments in World Liberty Financial totalling $US75 million — one was made the day before the inauguration.

Sun’s World Liberty Financial investments delivered close to $US50 million to the Trump family.

Not long after Trump returned to the White House, the SEC case against Sun was paused.

Sun later attended the $TRUMP meme coin gala as the coin’s largest holder — he had about $US22 million worth at the time of the dinner.

But it is not just individuals who are allegedly receiving favourable treatment.

An investigation by The New York Times, led by journalist Eric Lipton, raises questions about the impact business interests are having on US foreign policy.

The United Arab Emirates’ state-owned investment fund MGX, which is chaired by Abu Dhabi’s deputy ruler, invested $US2 billion in the crypto exchange Binance.

This investment was made using one of World Liberty Financial’s coins. The Trump family could earn tens of millions of dollars from this investment.

“That’s on a scale that we’ve never seen,” Lipton says.

“It’s tens of millions of dollars that is effectively going into the pockets of the Trump and Witkoff families and their business partners from that single transaction.”

Two weeks after the $US2 billion transaction, Trump announced the UAE would be allowed to buy hundreds of thousands of advanced AI chips from US technology giant Nvidia — something the Biden administration had refused to do.

There is no evidence that one deal was explicitly offered in return for the other.

Lipton says while the assertion was that the timing was coincidental, both involved “the same government officials and the same families that were benefiting”.

It is impossible to put a precise figure on how much Mr Trump and his family have made since he retook office.

It is unclear how some profits are distributed from the array of real estate, crypto, media, and Trump-brand ventures.

Forbes Magazine estimates Trump’s current net worth is $US7.3 billion. Twelve months earlier, it was $US3.9 billion.

Questioning Trump

Donald Trump has strongly rejected suggestions that it is inappropriate for him to be involved in business activities while serving as the US president.

When Four Corners asked how much wealthier he was since returning to the White House, Trump replied:

“Well, I don’t know if the deals I made, for the most part, other than what my kids are doing. You know, they’re running my business. But most of the deals that I’ve made were made before [being re-elected]. And that’s what I’ve done for a life.”

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Trump said his children, not him, were running the business, and that the questions from Four Corners were “hurting Australia”.

“They want to get along with me. You know your leader is coming over to see me very soon. I’m going to tell him about you. You set a very bad tone.”

“Quiet,” he said when pressed further, pointing a finger.

Trump supporters believe he is acting within the limits of the law.

“The president has to abide by US law. When it comes to businesses, that’s normal. There’s no conflict of interest laws related to the presidency and the president, and so he’s operating within that space,” former Trump adviser and communications director Bryan Lanza says.

Lanza rejects suggestions by critics that the business deals benefiting Trump and his family while in office are improper. 

“The president is not conducting these deals; it’s Don Jr and Eric.

“Every president benefits from their policies, every president benefits from a tax cut, every president benefits from their policies in the long term. Trump’s no different than any other president.”

‘Nobody does it like this’

Critics say, even if there are no quid pro quo deals, the president’s business activities fit within a broader definition of corruption. 

“The classical definition of corruption is the exploitation of public office and public power for private gain,” lawyer and former Obama White House ethics adviser Norm Eisen says.

“So when you look at … the $US2 billion World Liberty Financial investment where he has a stake in the crypto industry, the auctioning off access to those who purchase his meme coin … they’re all about Donald Trump using his office, the official nature of the presidency — public office — for his private gain, instead of for serving the public interest.

“He is the most corrupt president that we have had in the modern era.

“Jimmy Carter put his peanut farm into a blind trust so that … there would be no question that he was making decisions about agriculture or farming or subsidies to benefit himself. Donald Trump is doing the opposite.”

His colleague, Virginia Canter, is one of America’s foremost ethics lawyers and has worked under both Republican and Democrat administrations, advising the US Department of Treasury and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

She says the UAE deal raises questions, given the immense benefit to the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial.

“You have to ask yourself, why didn’t the UAE state-backed investment fund called MGX just take their money and invest it directly in Binance?” Canter says.

MGX didn’t respond to questions from Four Corners.

Canter says the American people expect their president to represent the public’s interests.

“You can’t be confident of that because now this money is coming in and undoubtedly influencing his official activity,” she says.

She rejects assertions that, because the deals are public knowledge, Trump isn’t doing anything wrong.

“It doesn’t look as scary or nefarious, and in fact it normalises it and it makes it look like it’s OK, and that’s a terrible thing,” she says.

“It perpetuates this idea that everybody does it. Nobody does it like this.

“We deserve much better.”

Lipton says Trump’s sons are using every avenue they can to create new businesses and intensify profits.

“The diversity of new ventures that they’re creating to profit off of policies that the president is involved with is just across the map, and it is creating a quagmire of ethics. The hardest part is that we just can’t keep up.”

Money maker

The scope of business activity Trump and his family are engaged in has surprised Republican strategist Doug Heye.

“The Trump family is certainly using this as a very big opportunity to make a lot of money, and they’ve been very successful at it,” he says.

He says Trump is such a unique figure, and no other president would be able to get away with what he does.

“The rules just don’t apply to him in the way they do to everyone else, and he exploits it,” he says.

“For most voters, it is so factored in because they’ve known Donald Trump as a successful businessman their entire lives.

“Many Americans don’t see a problem with this president enriching himself while in office.”

That was true of Nick Pinto, to a point.

The 25-year-old crypto entrepreneur never got to film his TikTok with Trump at the meme coin gala.

Once Trump had arrived, he delivered a speech before heading back to his helicopter and leaving. His appearance lasted less than 30 minutes.

Pinto, who was served a meal of steak and mashed potatoes, was left disenchanted by the experience and unimpressed by Trump’s apparent disregard for those who had invested in his crypto.

“I would say the entire dinner was about making money,” he says.

“They did advertise it as having dinner with Trump, and Trump did not eat anything at all.

“If there was a big table … and he’d sat down at least and drank a Diet Coke with us or something like that.

Watch the Four Corners investigation, Chasing Trump’s Billions, tonight from 8:30pm AEDT on ABC TV and ABC iview.