Analyst: Cash-to-Crypto Exchange Market Reaches Billions in Russia

The gray cash‑to‑crypto exchange market in Russia moves billions, with Moscow serving as the main hub. Alexey Korolenko, executive director of Cifra Markets, says that while the government has cracked down on some activity, it is difficult to close all trading offices.

Russia Moves Billions in Cash-to-Crypto Operations, Analyst Estimates

While Russian authorities have recently conducted raids aimed at curbing crypto trading and its use to evade capital‑flight controls, the gray market still moves billions. Alexey Korolenko, executive director of Cifra Markets, said that even with government crackdowns, it’s impossible to close all exchange offices.

Assessing the state of the crypto exchange market in Russia after these raids, Korolenko declared:

Not all exchange offices in Moscow-City have ceased operations because there are actually a huge number of them, and it is simply impossible to claim that all have stopped functioning.

The analyst estimates that a significant portion of the funds moved involves cash-to-crypto transactions, which drive a substantial volume of cryptocurrency flows to other markets. Korolento estimated that in terms of volume, Russian cash-to-crypto transaction flows “ranged from several hundred million to several billion dollars daily.”

Local Telegram channels reported that Moscow police seized over $10 million in cash in an unnamed exchange as part of these raids last month, which targeted two of the largest exchanges in the city. The raids involved seizures of property due to the alleged illegal transfer of funds to international markets.

Korolenko acknowledged that Moscow was a key location for these activities. “What needs to be understood is that Moscow-City is a key hub through which the lion’s share of the entire gray cryptocurrency turnover passes,” he stressed, but failed to estimate how much of these flows. “How much passes through Moscow-City is once again difficult to determine,” he added.

Finally, to avoid being involved in these situations, Korolenko called to make use of what is “legally permitted and what guarantees transparency and security.”