{"id":509965,"date":"2025-10-18T17:43:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T17:43:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/509965\/"},"modified":"2025-10-18T17:43:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T17:43:16","slug":"why-russia-became-the-top-european-country-for-crypto-adoption-dl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/509965\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Russia became the top European country for crypto adoption \u2013 DL News"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul class=\"list-outside pl-8\">\n<li>Russia has overtaken the UK as the top European country in terms of crypto adoption, according to Chainalysis data.<\/li>\n<li>Attempts to evade sanctions and to hedge against inflation are driving the surge.<\/li>\n<li>DeFi activity in Russia is now three-and-a-half times larger than it was in mid-2023.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"puppeteer-article-text-type-element\">Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine has fueled a rapid embrace of crypto technology within the country\u2019s borders, according to a new study. <\/p>\n<p class=\"puppeteer-article-text-type-element\">Russia is, by a wide margin, the top user of crypto among European nations, according to crypto forensic firm Chainalysis. <\/p>\n<p class=\"puppeteer-article-text-type-element\">Russia has seen $379 billion in crypto inflows between July 2024 and June 2025, a year-over-year increase of more than 48%, the firm <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chainalysis.com\/blog\/europe-crypto-adoption-2025\/\" rel=\" nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">found<\/a>. That placed the country ahead of the region\u2019s longtime leader, the UK, which saw $273 billion in inflows \u2014 a relatively modest 32% increase from the year prior.<\/p>\n<p class=\"puppeteer-article-text-type-element\">\u201cI strongly believe that the growth and adoption of crypto assets in Russia has been driven by the war and sanctions regimes,\u201d Matthias Bauer-Langgartner, Chainalysis\u2019 head of European policy, told DL News. <\/p>\n<p class=\"puppeteer-article-text-type-element\">\u201cCrypto assets are not just casually used in order to evade sanctions. There is a real strategy, a long-term strategy behind them.\u201d <\/p>\n<p><b>Evasion tactics<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"puppeteer-article-text-type-element\">The war\u2019s effect on crypto usage with Russia is twofold. First, the Russian government has turned to digital currencies in order to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dlnews.com\/articles\/snapshot\/russia-using-bitcoin-for-trade-amid-sanctions\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">skirt international sanctions<\/a>, which have limited the country\u2019s access to US dollars and to global payment systems such as SWIFT. <\/p>\n<p class=\"puppeteer-article-text-type-element\">Second, those sanctions have battered the ruble, and inflation-weary Russians are turning to crypto and DeFi in order to protect their savings, according to Bauer-Langgartner. <\/p>\n<p class=\"puppeteer-article-text-type-element\">Russia is subject to a record 19 sanctions packages from the European Union. The most recent, issued in September, targets Russia\u2019s use of crypto. <\/p>\n<p class=\"puppeteer-article-text-type-element\">\u201cAs evasion tactics grow more sophisticated, our sanctions will adapt to stay ahead,\u201d European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/commission\/presscorner\/detail\/en\/statement_25_2138\" rel=\" nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">statement<\/a> last month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"puppeteer-article-text-type-element\">\u201cTherefore, for the first time, our restrictive measures will hit crypto platforms. and prohibit transactions in crypto currencies.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"puppeteer-article-text-type-element\">In 2024, Russian lawmakers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/technology\/russia-launch-international-payments-crypto-before-end-2024-2024-07-30\/\" rel=\" nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">legalized<\/a> the use of crypto for international payments. A month later, President Vladimir Putin <a href=\"https:\/\/tass.com\/economy\/1826725\" rel=\" nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">signed a law<\/a> legalizing crypto mining. <\/p>\n<p class=\"puppeteer-article-text-type-element\">\u201cPutin is now a vocal cryptocurrency advocate,\u201d the think tank Rand <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rand.org\/about.html\" rel=\" nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">noted<\/a> in a recent report. \u201cAt December\u2019s annual Russia Calling investment forum, he claimed that \u2018no one can prohibit the use of Bitcoin.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"puppeteer-article-text-type-element\">The report cited several examples of Russia\u2019s newfound affinity for crypto, including an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dlnews.com\/articles\/regulation\/prosecutors-charge-russian-in-530m-money-laundering-scheme\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">alleged scheme<\/a> in which Rosatom, a state-owned nuclear technology company, laundered more than half a billion dollars in stablecoins for Russian clients who were trying to evade US sanctions and acquire \u201csensitive US technology.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"puppeteer-article-text-type-element\">Indeed, transfers of over $10 million increased 86% in Russia, according to Chainalysis data. That\u2019s double the 44% growth the firm saw in the rest of Europe during the same period. <\/p>\n<p><b>Russia\u2019s DeFi embrace<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"puppeteer-article-text-type-element\">Even as Russian firms increasingly use crypto for international payments, the use of crypto is banned within Russia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"puppeteer-article-text-type-element\">\u201cThe Russian government is actually not very keen for crypto adoption within the larger population, because it\u2019s something that can hardly be controlled,\u201d Bauer-Langgartner said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"puppeteer-article-text-type-element\">That hasn\u2019t stopped regular Russians from turning to digital assets to protect their savings. <\/p>\n<p class=\"puppeteer-article-text-type-element\">While inflation has slowed this year, it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/world\/russia-cuts-interest-rate-to-17-as-wartime-economy-slows-while-deficit-grows\" rel=\" nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">remained elevated<\/a> at 8.2%, the Russian central bank said in September. <\/p>\n<p class=\"puppeteer-article-text-type-element\">\u201cBecause there is this ban, we can see a lot of DeFi growth, where people go to no-KYC exchanges, peer-to-peer platforms, or so-called instant exchanges, where they can quite easily link their Russian, sanctioned bank account to a crypto trading platform,\u201d Bauer-Langgartner said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"puppeteer-article-text-type-element\">DeFi activity is now three-and-a-half times larger than it was in mid-2023, according to Chainalysis data. <\/p>\n<p class=\"puppeteer-article-text-type-element\">Despite the ban on retail use of crypto, Bauer-Langgartner believes the Russian government has largely turned a blind eye to Russians\u2019 use of tools such as instant exchanges. <\/p>\n<p class=\"puppeteer-article-text-type-element\">\u201cIt\u2019s not a massive priority amongst the many things the Russian government is currently thinking of,\u201d he said. \u201cEnforcement could still be enhanced, and it potentially will be in the future.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"puppeteer-article-text-type-element\">Just this month, however, Russian Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov appeared to suggest the Russian government should move to accommodate retail crypto use. <\/p>\n<p class=\"puppeteer-article-text-type-element\">\u201cWe have millions of citizens, by some estimates 20 million, who use cryptocurrency for various purposes,\u201d he said, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/tass.com\/economy\/2027421\" rel=\" nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">report<\/a> from Russian news agency Tass. <\/p>\n<p class=\"puppeteer-article-text-type-element\">\u201cSince they are already using it, we need our own infrastructure to protect citizens and to have both economic and technological benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"puppeteer-article-text-type-element\">To be sure, crypto remains a small part of Russia\u2019s sanctions evasion efforts. <\/p>\n<p class=\"puppeteer-article-text-type-element\">Crypto assets aren\u2019t liquid enough to power one of the world\u2019s largest economies, according to Bauer-Langgartner. Additionally, they\u2019re easily traced, making it simple for centralized stablecoin issuers to freeze suspect funds at the request of US and European law enforcement agencies. <\/p>\n<p class=\"puppeteer-article-text-type-element\">\u201cThese analytical capabilities that we have and constantly develop, they have a massive effect on the usability of funds with sanctions exposure,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"puppeteer-article-text-type-element\">\u201cRegulation in Europe and the US is working, because it gives you a tighter net and a real blocker in being able to onboard funds coming from Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"puppeteer-article-text-type-element\">Aleks Gilbert is DL News\u2019 DeFi Correspondent based in New York. You can contact him at aleks@dlnews.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Russia has overtaken the UK as the top European country in terms of crypto adoption, according to Chainalysis&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":509966,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7655],"tags":[61467,159276,332],"class_list":{"0":"post-509965","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-russia","8":"tag-anti-money-laundering","9":"tag-know-your-customer","10":"tag-russia"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115396411756895576","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=509965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/509966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=509965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=509965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=509965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}