Rosfinmonitoring head points to an increase in the use of cryptocurrencies in the Russian Federation

The department has stepped up oversight of digital asset holders with its software product Transparent Blockchain

09.03.2023 - 16:25

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What’s new? Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring) monitors more than 25 000 participants in transactions with cryptocurrency in the Russian Federation, as well as about 10 financial organizations that assist them. The department’s head Yury Chikhanchin said this on March 9 at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He also points to an increase in the use of cryptocurrency: according to the department, to date, the turnover exceeds 630 000 BTC (~ $13,67 billion/1 trillion Russian rubles).

Transcript of the meeting

Details about the department’s work. According to Chikhanchin, 120 investigations have already been conducted and more than 60 criminal cases have been opened in the process of supervising market participants. He connected the results of the work with the launch of the software product Transparent Blockchain, which can analyze more than 20 cryptocurrencies and is already being tested in the Ministry of the Interior, the Federal Security Service (FSB), and the Investigative Committee. In addition, requests for its use have been received from the authorities of several CIS countries.

With Transparent Blockchain, Rosfinmonitoring, law enforcement agencies, and financial intelligence agencies in other countries were able to shut down Hydra, a dark web marketplace linked to the arms trade, drug trafficking, and money laundering, last April.

In July 2022, Chikhanchin said that the use of cryptocurrencies in international settlements is acceptable provided that the entire chain of transactions is controlled. In June, he also reported that digital assets were used by Russian citizens in illegal activities, referring, in addition to speculation, to the financing of terrorism, extremism, and cybercrime. At the time, Rosfinmonitoring, jointly with the FSB and the Interior Ministry, was conducting about 400 investigations.

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