Five Crypto Exchanges Help Russia Dodge Sanctions: Elliptic
Elliptic reports five crypto exchanges are enabling Russia to evade sanctions by facilitating ruble-to-crypto conversions.Summary
Crypto analytics firm Elliptic has identified five cryptocurrency exchanges—Bitpapa, ABCeX, Exmo, Rapira, and Aifory Pro—that are allegedly helping Russia circumvent international sanctions by enabling ruble-to-crypto conversions. This network reportedly emerged after the sanctioned Russian exchange Garantex was taken down. Elliptic noted that Bitpapa was already sanctioned by OFAC in March 2024 for sanctions evasion. Furthermore, ABCeX operates from the same Moscow tower as Garantex, and Exmo is reportedly still co-mingling funds between its Russian and Western-facing entities. Rapira has engaged in significant transactions with Garantex's successor, Grinex, while Aifory Pro explicitly facilitates bypassing service restrictions using USDT virtual cards. This comes as Russia's finance ministry pushes for faster crypto regulations amid booming digital asset adoption.
(Source：Cointelegraph)