Russian Crypto Volume Plunges Across Major Exchanges By 50%

Russian Crypto denominated purchasing and trading on key exchanges has stalled, according to data from blockchain-analysis firms.

Contradicting notions that the country will convert to digital assets to avoid sanctions.

When Bitcoin surged over 15% last week, some industry analysts blamed it on Russians buying cryptocurrencies in the face of tightening economic sanctions.

iexclusivenews reports that this notion appears to be inaccurate, as data from Chainalysis shows that the amount of ruble-denominated crypto trade was just $34.1 million on March 3.

Less than half of the recent high of $70.7 million a week ago on Feb. 24.

“Russian volumes have been quite minor so far, suggesting that the price action is mainly attributable to speculators preparing for a predicted rise in demand from Russia, rather than Russian demand itself,”

Citigroup analyst Alexander Saunders told Bloomberg of sanctions-fueled crypto purchases.

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Even though academics have dismissed the idea that crypto could be used to help Russia avoid economic sanctions.

The United States and the European Union have done so. are continuing to tighten their regulatory oversight over digital assets.

New York recently enhanced its blockchain surveillance capabilities to further restrict the usage of cryptocurrencies or digital assets to assist Russian goals.

On February 27, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order instructing state agencies to divest from Russian institutions and enterprises, as well as entities that support them.

She stated, “New York is honored to be home to the country’s largest Ukrainian population, and we will use our technology resources to safeguard our citizens and demonstrate to Russia that we will hold them accountable.”

Jake Chervinsky, the head of policy at the Blockchain Association in the United States, went so far as to label these concerns about cryptocurrency “completely false.”. 

Ari Redbord, the head of legal and government affairs at crypto crime investigator TRM Labs, echoed this sentiment.

Saying that it’s 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 looking to avoid sanctions.

“Russia will not be able to replace the hundreds of billions of money that could be blocked or frozen with crypto.”

Many of the world’s biggest crypto exchanges have opted to blacklist sanctioned individuals and organizations in the wake of impending regulatory action from the international community.

Binance, on the other hand, has declined to restrict the accounts of “harmless” Russian consumers.