Cryptocurrency trading volumes on major exchanges in Russia are dropping. Recent discussions have covered the fact that Russians may be using crypto to avoid sanctions, but that does not appear to be the case so far.
Days after there was a surge in cryptocurrency volumes in Russia, those volumes are now falling across several major exchanges. More recent data shows that crypto usage among Russians isn’t particularly noteworthy. Chainalysis has also reported that the usage isn’t out of the ordinary.
Chainalysis reported that crypto trading in rubles was just $34.1 million on March 3, which is a sizable downgrade from daily records over $150 million back in 2021. All-time high crypto activity in rubles peaked in May 2021 and has only gone down since. This casts some doubt on the narrative that crypto is becoming a safe haven for sanctions-hit Russians.
There simply hasn’t been enough capital moving to conclude that the crypto market is experiencing a meaningful impact as a result of the sanctions on Russia. However, it is still early days, so there could be change yet as the sanctions begin to take full on the Russian economy.
For the moment, there doesn’t appear to be much concern about the use of digital currencies in Russia. Western officials have been concerned about this, as one conversational point is the use of crypto to avoid sanctions.
Crypto a talking point in the Ukraine-Russia crisis
Cryptocurrencies have become a somewhat important talking point in the current conflict going on in Europe. Uniswap has added a donate to Ukraine feature, which was lauded by the country’s officials. Many trading platforms have also been making similar efforts to aid the effort.
However, some western authorities are worried that crypto could be used to flout the sanctions. Some exchanges, like Coinbase and Kraken, have not paused operations in Russia. Officials are concerned they will act as a way out.
There’s good news too, as the amount of crypto donations flowing into Ukraine has been substantial. Tens of millions in cryptocurrencies have been estimated so far, and those numbers continue to grow.
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