Russia’s Federal Security Service raided nine unregistered cryptocurrency exchange services in the Moscow International Business Center, detaining more than 20 employees in a sweeping crackdown authorities say targeted a network that converted cash from telephone scams into digital assets and moved the proceeds abroad.

The joint operation with the Ministry of Interior marks a sharp escalation in enforcement just weeks before a new regulatory framework governing domestic cryptocurrency circulation is scheduled to take effect on September 1. The FSB alleged that the platforms served as a bridge between conventional fraud and blockchain-based transfers, converting rubles stolen from Russian victims into cryptocurrency before sending the…