The Bank of Russia, in the first half of 2026, sent information about 2,600 illegal crypto wallets—companies, projects, and individual entrepreneurs associated with illegal activities—to the information system.
More Than 1 Billion Rubles Received on Suspicious Wallets
According to the regulator, the total amount of funds attracted to these addresses exceeded 1 billion rubles in equivalent. Law enforcement agencies and banks use this data: it helps assess the client’s risk profile and conduct financial investigations.
The Central Bank has increased its focus on such operations amid the growth of schemes where cryptocurrency becomes a convenient tool for raising money. In Russia, such channels are increasingly appearing in investigations of illegal financial projects.
Cryptocurrency Became the Main Channel for Pyramids
The breakdown by fundraising channels looks like this:
- Cryptocurrency — 74%
- Foreign payment services or cash — 26%
In such cases, a financial pyramid often disguises fundraising as investments, loans, or other pseudo-financial products. A crypto wallet allows for quick transfers, so the regulator monitors such addresses and passes information to the system accessible to banks and law enforcement.
The Crypto Loan Scheme Continues to Grow
In the first half of the year, illegal lenders continued to develop the “crypto loan” format. Clients are offered loans in USDT or in rubles at the exchange rate.
The Bank of Russia receives hundreds of complaints about such projects. Websites are blocked, but scammers launch new copies of resources and continue to attract people through similar pages.
Why Crypto Withdrawals Can Be Blocked
Crypto withdrawals are most often blocked due to suspicions of money laundering, non-compliance with KYC/AML, matches with sanction lists, links to fraudulent schemes, or technical failures on the service side.
To reduce the risk of blocking and safely withdraw cryptocurrency to a card, it is better to follow a clear procedure:
- Complete verification on the selected platform
- Use trusted services and licensed intermediaries if required by the rules
- Check limits, fees, and the bank’s requirements for incoming transfers
- Do not artificially split transfers and do not conduct transactions with suspicious addresses
- Keep documents and transaction history to confirm the source of funds during checks
How to Protect a Crypto Wallet and Reduce Risks
The main security rule is not to give private keys and the seed phrase to third parties, and not to store them in open notes, email, or messengers. For large sums, it is safer to use a hardware wallet and keep a backup of the seed phrase separate from the device.
Simple habits help protect against phishing: check the website address before logging in, do not follow suspicious links, do not install unknown extensions, and regularly update antivirus software. The main risks for the owner are exchange rate volatility, loss of access to the wallet, fraud, technical failures, and legal consequences of questionable transactions. Backups, checking addresses before transferring, working with reliable services, and keeping documents for transactions help reduce these risks.
How Crypto Transactions Are Tracked
The blockchain is an open ledger of transactions. Addresses and transfers are visible to everyone, but the address itself does not reveal the owner’s name. Therefore, cryptocurrencies are considered pseudo-anonymous: transactions are public, and the connection to a person appears through exchanges, payment services, banks, and investigation data. This matching is called deanonymization.
For analysis, blockchain analysis is used: special services group addresses, build transfer chains, and mark wallets associated with fraud, sanction lists, or illegal projects. This way, law enforcement can trace the path of funds from a suspicious address to a platform where the owner goes through identification.
New Rules for the Digital Currency Market
On August 4, President Vladimir Putin signed the law “On Digital Currencies and Digital Rights.” The document introduces comprehensive regulation of cryptocurrency circulation in Russia: from citizens purchasing through licensed intermediaries to exchange trading, clearing, and the operation of digital depositories.
Countries’ approaches differ: in the EU, the focus is on licensing and transparency of service providers; in the US, control is distributed among several regulators; and in China, cryptocurrency trading is strictly limited. The Russian model is also built around controlling intermediaries and giving state agencies access to information about transactions.
The main part of the law will take effect on September 1, 2026, unless other deadlines are set for specific provisions. The requirement to conduct cryptocurrency transactions only through licensed intermediaries will take effect on July 1, 2027.
The crypto wallet address itself is important not as a set of characters, but as part of transactions and income that may be subject to tax declaration. If a tax obligation arises from such transactions, income must be reflected in the declaration; violations may result in tax claims, fines, and audits.
Amid the preparation of new rules, several participants are monitoring financial transactions at once:
- The Bank of Russia
- Law enforcement agencies
- Banks
- The Federal Tax Service of Russia
