Russians Offered Ready-made Crypto Exchange Accounts Amid Restrictions – Russian residents are increasingly being sold ready-to-use cryptocurrency exchange accounts. While this is not a new occurrence — such accounts are frequently used by fraudsters and money launderers — the present increase in supply has been attributed to trading platform restrictions on Russian consumers as a result of compliance with sanctions related to the Ukraine war.
Russian residents have been purchasing these accounts despite the risks, including the possibility that whoever established them will retain access after the transaction, according to Kommersant. However, they are inexpensive, and offers on darknet markets have more than doubled since early 2022, according to Nikolay Chursin of Positive Technologies’ information security threat analysis group.
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According to Peter Mareichev, an analyst at Kaspersky Digital Footprint Intelligence, the number of fresh adverts on various exchanges for ready-made and confirmed wallets hit 400 in December. Proposals to manufacture bogus documents to pass know-your-customer processes also increased, according to an earlier article revealed by the newspaper last month.
Simple login data, such as a username and password, is normally priced roughly $50, according to Chursin. A buyer would have to spend an average of $300 for a completely set up account, including the documentation with which it was registered. According to Dmitry Bogachev of digital threat analysis business Jet Infosystems, the fee is determined by elements such as the country and date of registration, as well as the activity history. Accounts that are older are more expensive.
According to Sergey Mendeleev, CEO of defi banking platform Indefibank, there are two types of buyers: Russians who need an account for normal business and those who use these accounts for criminal activities. Igor Sergienko, director of development at cybersecurity services provider RTK-Solar, believes that the recent blocking of Russian accounts or withdrawals to Russian bank cards is mostly to blame.
Financial limitations imposed by the West in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have been met by major crypto service providers, including significant digital asset exchanges. Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency trading platform, stated last year that, while it restricted sanctioned individuals and businesses, it was not banning all Russians.
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However, since the end of 2022, a number of Russian Binance users have complained about their accounts being disabled without reason, according to Forklog. Many customers stated they had troubles for weeks, including suspended withdrawals during lengthy checks. According to the company, the blocking of customers from Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States was related to the case involving the confiscated cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato.
