The Bank of Russia is building a surveillance apparatus for digital assets at the same time the Russian state relies on those assets to circumvent Western financial restrictions. The contradiction reveals how governments actually think about crypto.
Summary
- The Bank of Russia added 2,600 crypto wallets to a monitoring system used by banks and law enforcement after more than 1 billion rubles flowed into the addresses during the first half of 2026.
- More than 74% of pyramid schemes identified by the regulator used cryptocurrencies to attract funds, down from 84% in 2025 but still the dominant payment channel for financial fraud in Russia.
- Russia simultaneously uses cryptocurrency…
