Cryptocurrency Turnover Growing in Russia – According to Yury Chikhanchin, director of the Federal Financial Monitoring Service of the Russian Federation (Rosfinmonitoring), who reported to President Vladimir Putin on the agency’s present operations, the turnover of crypto assets in Russia is increasing.
During a discussion with the head of state, the executive disclosed that the watchdog is monitoring the activity of over 25.000 participants in crypto transactions. In addition, the agency has identified over a dozen financial organizations that aid them. Putin noted, as reported by the business news website RBC, that wherever money or new financial instruments exist, “swindlers” appear as well.
People Also Read: India Brings Crypto Transactions Under Prevention of Money Laundering Act
In the lack of full regulation, Chikhanchin acknowledged that cryptocurrency usage in Russia is expanding. “We believe that the cryptocurrency turnover today is more than 630,000 bitcoins,” he detailed without elaborating. Given the current exchange rate, this amount of Bitcoin is nearly comparable to $13 billion in conventional currency.
The Bank of Russia estimated in 2021 that the annual amount of crypto transactions conducted by Russians was approximately $5 billion. Rosfinmonitoring has conducted around 120 crypto-related investigations and initiated more than sixty criminal cases. This was made feasible, according to Chikhanchin, by the launch of Russia’s new ‘Transparent Blockchain’ platform.
“A year ago, the service could only track bitcoin, but using this system allows you to see the movements of more than 20 different crypto assets,” the official explained. Currently, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Federal Security Service, and the Investigative Committee are testing the crypto analytics tool. Several Commonwealth of Independent States countries have expressed interest in acquiring it.
People Also Read: Russian Crypto Industry Association Asks Putin to Help With Regulations
Transparent Blockchain was utilized in an effort to shut down the darknet market Hydra, in collaboration with international law enforcement agencies and financial intelligence agency representatives. The website was taken offline in early April 2022, when German authorities confiscated its services with U.S. assistance. Dmitry Pavlov, a Russian citizen and accused administrator, was arrested later that month.
