The top 5 cryptocurrency exchanges supporting Russia to evade sanctions

According to the report released last weekend by Elliptic, a network of five cryptocurrency exchanges linked to Russia is supporting sanctioned entities to evade international restrictions. This development reveals vulnerabilities in enforcement following the U.S. crackdown on Garantex in March 2025.

Among the platforms named, only Bitpapa is officially sanctioned, with approximately 9.7% of its funds flowing to prohibited targets and frequently changing wallets to avoid detection. Unsanctioned exchanges such as ABCeX, Aifory Pro, Exmo, and Rapira still process large volumes of transactions, enabling access to restricted financial services.

Cryptocurrency activities related to sanctions set a record in 2025, with Chainalysis estimating $154 billion and TRM Labs recording $158 billion in transactions.