On March 20, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) advised the country’s commercial banks to strengthen monitoring of cryptocurrencies and regulators’ operations. The recommendation mentions scrutiny of cryptocurrency exchanges. Yuri Isaev, vice-chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, mentioned this in a letter to other banking groups, asking them to start checking for unusual transaction activity, which also includes any spending patterns that go beyond the norm.
At the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war, as part of the economic sanctions, special measures were approved to control the outflow of foreign exchange. Government authorization is required for Russian citizens to purchase real estate purchases, securities, and other assets from other countries or jurisdictions.
In addition, Russia made sure to limit foreign exchange transactions to $5,000 and imposed a $10,000 cash cap on those traveling abroad. 10 million Russian citizens hold about 5 trillion rubles of cryptocurrency, which is equivalent to $63 billion worth of cryptocurrency. Russian users cannot use their Visa and Mastercard cards and the Russian government has imposed strict restrictions.
This has resulted in Russian citizens relying on cryptocurrencies as their only option for transferring funds. The Russian people will have to provide certain documents to the bank, including a statement of the legality of the transaction or business.
