Russian Crypto Volume Plunges by 50%

Despite increased economic sanctions against Russia, the amount of cryptocurrency purchased in rubles on major exchanges continues to decline. Data from blockchain-analysis firms show that Russian-denominated crypto purchases and trading on major exchanges have slowed; it put to rest theories that the country will turn to digital assets to avoid sanctions.

Bitcoin (BTC) surged more than 15% last week; hence, some industry experts blamed it on Russians buying cryptocurrency in the face of increasing economic sanctions. However, data from Chainalysis show that ruble-denominated crypto trading volume was only $34.1 million on Thursday; less than half of a recent peak of $70.7 million a week ago on Feb. 24.

Citigroup analyst Alexander Saunders told Bloomberg that Russian volumes have been relatively small so far; this means that the price action is more due to investors positioning for an expected uptick in demand from Russia, rather than Russian demand itself.

The United States and the European Union increase regulatory scrutiny of digital assets.

Recently, the state of New York increased its blockchain surveillance capabilities to further prevent cryptocurrencies or digital assets from being used to support Russian interests.

Ari Redbord stated that it is too late for crypto assets to provide enough liquidity for Russia and that the public nature of blockchains is already a sufficient deterrent for those seeking to circumvent sanctions.

Many of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges have decided to blacklist sanctioned individuals and organizations in the face of impending regulatory action from the international community. Binance, on the other hand, has refused to censor the accounts of “innocent” Russian customers.