Reports have stated that Russians have been carrying out crypto transactions since the announcement of the sanctions on the country. According to a report, exchanges have been unable to implement measures to prevent them from carrying out transactions. This report was presented on the first anniversary of the animosity between Ukraine and Russia. The statement clarified that banking institutions inside Russia still carry out crypto operations using exchanges outside the country.
Russians still carrying out crypto transactions
The report mentioned that traders were still leveraging their credit cards to patronize exchanges. Most of these cards were issued by financial institutions listed as sanctioned by countries, including the EU. One of the most famous institutions is Sberbank, which has continued to use the services of exchanges like Huobi to carry out crypto-related services.
The report mentioned that although the exchanges have refused to take funds from those banks, they allow a peer-to-peer method of payment using accounts that the authorities have blacklisted. The report said the users accessed the websites through some back channel not covered in the sanctions. Meanwhile, the exchanges involved have not released any official information to clarify their part in the allegations.
The report names guilty exchanges
The report took into consideration more than 150 crypto trading platforms cut across all forms of trades. Most of these exchanges have no measures to restrict Russians from using their platforms. In addition, the report said that there are other measures, including a special KYC and other requirements to allow Russians to carry out their operations. A typical example is Bybit, which enables the conversion of fiat funds into crypto before they are used for transactions.
The report also fingered Binance as one of the guilty parties, as Russians exploit several back channels to carry out transactions on the website. Although the report said the platform has refused to obey the sanctions and restrict Russians, an executive has denied the allegations. According to the executive, the platform was the first to install measures to restrict Russians from using their services. The report also mentioned that most Russians now use Tether as a go-to option to carry out transactions. The traders in the country use the asset to send money out to their relatives out of the country.
