Sharp Rise in Criminal Use of Crypto is Recorded by Central Bank  

The signs of illegal activities, scams, and financial pyramids in the Russian market are progressing. Based on the current statement of the Central Bank, digital assets are utilized as an immediate tool for trying illegal frauds, scams, and financial pyramids. When compared to the year 2022, there is a rise of over 15.5% in criminal use of cryptocurrency.     

The Rising Crypto Scams in Russia

In a recent report by the Russian Central Bank, a drastic upsurge was documented in fraudulent investment projects in 2023, in comparison to 2022. Surprisingly enough, most of the scams used cryptocurrency as a primary tool.   

Despite the prohibition of crypto as a payment option in July 2022 and the declaration of the digital ruble law in July 2023, the crypto scam ratio worsened in the year 2023.   

According to the report, around 4,964 illegal activities were prevalent in 2022, which skyrocketed to 5,735 in 2023. All these illegal activities are categorized into several types based on the action and way of attempting the scam.

Illegal actions related to illegal lenders were raised to 1,884 and financial pyramids hit over 2,944 in 2023. However, a slight decline can be observed in the illegal professional participants in the securities market. In 2022, the illegal activities were around 1,201 whereas, the scams declined to 862 in 2023.  

Till June 2023, around 2,449 illegal activities were identified, including financial pyramids. A 28% upsurge was identified when compared with the first half of 2022, when the total illegal activities were over 2288.   

Moreover, the number of financial pyramids increased by 1.7 times as compared to the first half. Almost all illegal brokers and pyramid schemes delivered investments in internal tokens or approved contributions in cryptos.  

To elucidate further, 98% of the illegal activities in 2023 were attempted through Internet projects whereas the remaining 2% were carried out through Limited Liability Companies, Consumer cooperatives, and other forms.    

The Bank of Russia is continuously working to improve the information space monitoring system to uncover illegal activities in the financial market. 

Impact of the scam on Russian Crypto market 

The story of scams and illegal activities in the Russian market is never-ending and result of this, Binance announced its exit from the market. The platform decided to way apart from Russia in September 2023. 

Additionally, the exchange sold its businesses to CommEX, and the same was confirmed by Binance’s Chief Compliance, Noah Perlman. 

Despite these ups and downs, numerous Russian parliamentary figures are showing support for the Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC). In September 2023, the head of the Russian Parliamentary Financial Committee, Anatoly Aksakov showed concern about the role of traditional banks as blockchain technology is integrating into the global financial system.   

Anurag is working as a fundamental writer for The Coin Republic since 2021. He likes to exercise his curious muscles and research deep into a topic. Though he covers various aspects of the crypto industry, he is quite passionate about the Web3, NFTs, Gaming, and Metaverse, and envisions them as the future of the (digital) economy. A reader & writer at heart, he calls himself an “average guitar player” and a fun footballer.