What Crypto Exchanges Are Banned in Russia? The Full Regulatory Breakdown

Russia doesn’t ban all cryptocurrency exchanges. It bans the ones that don’t play by its rules. If you think it’s about stopping crypto, you’re wrong. It’s about control. The Russian government isn’t trying to kill digital currencies-it’s trying to own them.

It’s Not a Ban, It’s a Filter

You won’t find a single law that says, "All crypto exchanges are illegal in Russia." That’s not how it works. Instead, the Bank of Russia and Roskomnadzor quietly block platforms that fail to meet strict compliance standards. The goal? Stop money laundering, prevent sanctions evasion, and keep crypto flows under state supervision.

International exchanges like Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken aren’t officially banned. But try to deposit rubles or withdraw to a Russian bank account? Good luck. Their payment processors are cut off. Russian banks can’t touch them. Their services are effectively unusable for most locals. It’s a silent blockade.

The real targets? Exchanges that help Russia bypass Western sanctions. That’s where the crackdown gets serious.

Garantex: The Exchange That Got Taken Down

Garantex was Russia’s biggest homegrown crypto exchange. Founded in 2018, it handled over $1 billion in trades before 2022. Then came the sanctions. In March 2025, U.S. Secret Service agents, working with German and Finnish police, raided its servers. They seized its domain, froze $26 million in crypto, and shut it down.

But Garantex didn’t disappear. It just changed shape.

Its founder, Sergey Mendeleev, quietly launched Exved-a new payment service based in Moscow’s International Business Center. Exved doesn’t call itself an exchange. It markets itself as "the first exchange for importers and exporters." That’s code. It’s still moving crypto for sanctioned businesses, using shell companies and fake invoices to disguise payments. Russian customs data shows a 40% spike in crypto-linked import transactions since late 2024, mostly routed through Exved.

The U.S. Department of Justice indicted two former Garantex executives-Aleksandr Mira Serda and Aleksej Besciokov. Mira Serda is still at large. The State Department is offering $5 million for info leading to his arrest. Besciokov was caught in India. The game isn’t over.

Grinex: The Ghost of Garantex

While Garantex was collapsing, its engineers built Grinex. Same team. Same code. Same clients. Just a new name and a new domain.

In July 2024, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added Grinex to its sanctions list. The official reason? "Continuing Garantex’s sanctions evasion infrastructure." By early 2025, Grinex had absorbed over 80% of Garantex’s former user base.

It’s not just a copycat. It’s an upgrade. Grinex uses decentralized liquidity pools and cross-chain bridges to hide transaction trails. Russian users still access it through mirrored sites and Telegram bots. The interface looks different, but the backend? Identical.

The Russian government hasn’t touched Grinex. Why? Because it’s not operating openly. It’s underground. And as long as it doesn’t trigger domestic banking alerts, it flies under the radar.

A compliant Russian crypto platform operates under state banking supervision with glowing ruble transactions.

What About Binance and Coinbase?

Binance and Coinbase are blocked in Russia-not because Russia ordered it, but because they chose not to comply.

Russia demands full KYC: real names, ID scans, phone numbers tied to local SIM cards. It requires transaction monitoring that flags any crypto sent to wallets linked to sanctioned countries. It demands monthly reports to the Bank of Russia.

Binance and Coinbase can’t do that without violating EU and U.S. privacy laws. So they don’t try. They don’t offer ruble deposits. They don’t partner with Russian banks. They don’t set up local offices.

The result? Russian users can’t use them. Not legally. Not practically. Not without a VPN and a foreign bank account-and even then, withdrawals are risky.

It’s not a ban. It’s a design flaw. These platforms were built for global markets. Russia isn’t a global market anymore. It’s a walled garden.

BestChange: The One That Got Unbanned

BestChange was blocked in 2023 for listing foreign payment systems like Payeer and AdvCash. It also showed exchange rates between rubles and Kazakhstani tenge-a red flag for the Central Bank, which saw it as a backdoor for capital flight.

But BestChange didn’t fight. It adapted.

In early 2025, after working with Russian legal teams for nine months, it removed all foreign currency exchange data. It stopped listing non-Russian payment methods. It added mandatory KYC for all users and started submitting daily transaction logs to the Bank of Russia.

Roskomnadzor lifted the ban in April 2025. Today, BestChange is one of the few crypto platforms openly operating in Russia. It’s not a crypto exchange-it’s a currency aggregator. But it’s the only one that survived.

The New Rules: Who Can Operate?

Russia’s crypto rules are simple if you know the code:

**No foreign payment systems**-PayPal, Wise, Revolut? Blocked.
**No anonymous trading**-KYC is mandatory. No ID? No trade.
**No crypto for domestic payments**-You can’t pay for groceries with Bitcoin. Ever.
**No transactions with sanctioned countries**-If your wallet ever touched Iran, Syria, North Korea, or Crimea? You’re flagged.
**No offshore ownership**-Exchanges must be legally registered in Russia, with Russian directors and local bank accounts.

The only exchanges that survive are Russian-owned, Russian-run, and Russian-compliant. Grinex and Exved operate in the shadows. BestChange plays by the rules. That’s the split.

Underground crypto operators use Telegram bots in a hidden Moscow tunnel, with a wanted poster and fake export banner.

The Big Shift: Russia’s State-Controlled Crypto Experiment

In October 2025, Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov dropped a bombshell: Russia is building its own crypto infrastructure.

It’s not a digital ruble. It’s something else. A state-monitored crypto network where transactions are tracked in real time, taxes are auto-calculated, and only "especially qualified" investors-those with over 50 million rubles ($550,000) in assets-can trade.

This isn’t about banning crypto. It’s about turning it into a government tool. Think China’s digital yuan, but with more loopholes for sanctioned trade.

The Bank of Russia is already testing it with five banks and three state-owned corporations. By 2026, it could become mandatory for all large crypto transactions.

That means the next generation of Russian crypto exchanges won’t be platforms like Binance. They’ll be apps built into Sberbank or Gazprombank. You won’t log into an exchange. You’ll click "Crypto" in your online banking app.

What’s Really Happening?

Russia isn’t fighting crypto. It’s absorbing it.

The exchanges that got banned? They were threats to control. The ones that survived? They became tools of the state.

Garantex? A criminal network now operating in 10 countries. Grinex? A ghost in the system. BestChange? A compliant shell. And the future? A government-run crypto pipeline.

If you’re in Russia and you want to trade crypto today, you have two options:

Use Exved or Grinex-risky, underground, but functional.
Wait for the state’s official platform-safe, legal, but monitored.

There’s no third option. Not anymore.

What’s Next?

The U.S. and EU will keep sanctioning Russian crypto platforms. Russia will keep adapting. The cycle won’t stop.

But here’s what’s changing: crypto is no longer a rebellion in Russia. It’s becoming part of the system. The same people who once used it to escape sanctions are now using it to work within them.

The real question isn’t which exchanges are banned.

It’s: who’s running them now?

Are Binance and Coinbase banned in Russia?

No, Binance and Coinbase aren’t officially banned by Russian law. But they can’t operate there because they don’t comply with Russia’s strict KYC and payment rules. Russian banks can’t process their transactions, and they don’t offer ruble deposits. So while you can technically access their websites, you can’t use them for anything practical inside Russia.

Is crypto legal in Russia?

Yes, but only under strict conditions. You can own and trade crypto, but you can’t use it to pay for goods or services inside Russia. You can only trade it as an asset. Since 2024, crypto can be used in international trade, which opened a backdoor for businesses to move money abroad. All transactions must go through KYC checks, and large traders must report to the Bank of Russia.

Why was Garantex shut down?

Garantex was shut down in March 2025 by U.S. and European law enforcement for helping Russian entities bypass international sanctions. It moved over $26 million in crypto through fake invoices and shell companies. The U.S. Treasury designated it as a sanctions evasion tool. Its founders were indicted, and its domain was seized. It’s now operating under the name Exved, still based in Moscow.

Can I still trade crypto in Russia today?

Yes, but only through Russian-controlled platforms like Grinex or Exved, or by waiting for the state’s upcoming official crypto system. International exchanges like Binance are unusable for most people because of payment and banking blocks. The only legal way to trade is through platforms that report to the Bank of Russia and require full identification.

Will Russia ever fully ban crypto?

No. Russia is moving in the opposite direction. Instead of banning crypto, it’s building its own state-controlled version. The goal is to track every transaction, tax it, and use it to bypass Western financial restrictions. Crypto isn’t being outlawed-it’s being nationalized.

31 Comments

miriam gionfriddo
December 5, 2025 AT 00:54

so like... garantex was just a glorified money laundry with a website? 🤦‍♀️ and now they're calling it 'import-export services'? please. i'm not even mad, just impressed at how brazen they are.
Kenneth Ljungström
December 5, 2025 AT 18:58

this is wild but also kinda makes sense. Russia isn’t banning crypto-it’s just saying, 'you want to play? fine, but you play by our rules.' kind of like how the IRS doesn’t ban cash, but you better report it. 😅
Barb Pooley
December 6, 2025 AT 21:41

i bet the state is secretly running grinex. why else would they leave it alone? this whole thing is a psyop. the feds are using this to justify more surveillance. trust no one.
Lore Vanvliet
December 7, 2025 AT 00:50

AMERICA THINKS IT'S SO SMART WITH ITS SANCTIONS. LOL. RUSSIA JUST BUILT A BETTER SYSTEM. YOU THINK YOU'RE WINNING? YOU'RE JUST TRAINING THEM.
Scott Sơn
December 8, 2025 AT 02:38

this isn’t crypto anymore. this is geopolitical chess played with blockchain pieces. someone’s got a PhD in financial warfare and they’re not even wearing a tie. 🤯
Frank Cronin
December 8, 2025 AT 04:29

so let me get this straight-Binance won’t comply with a dictatorship’s demands, and you call that a 'design flaw'? wow. what a moral victory for corporate cowardice. 🙄
Nicole Parker
December 8, 2025 AT 07:56

i think what’s really fascinating is how this mirrors what happened with the internet in the 90s-everyone thought it would be free and open, but then governments realized they could shape it. crypto’s just the next phase. it’s not about control-it’s about evolution. and evolution doesn’t care about your ideals.
Brooke Schmalbach
December 8, 2025 AT 10:09

exved? grinex? please. these aren’t 'platforms'-they’re shell corporations with crypto wallets and a russian accent. and bestchange? it’s not a survivor-it’s a puppet. the bank of russia pulls the strings and everyone claps like trained seals.
Cristal Consulting
December 8, 2025 AT 14:57

you’re not banned-you’re just being asked to play nice. if you want to trade crypto in russia, do the paperwork. it’s not that hard. stop acting like it’s a human rights violation.
Tom Van bergen
December 9, 2025 AT 17:07

the state is building its own crypto not to control it but to transcend it. you think money is power? no. data is power. and russia now has both. the future is not decentralized. it’s monitored
Sandra Lee Beagan
December 10, 2025 AT 11:06

as someone who’s worked with russian fintech teams, this is textbook. they don’t fight regulations-they absorb them. it’s cultural. they don’t see compliance as surrender. they see it as adaptation. it’s not evil. it’s just... russian.
Ben VanDyk
December 11, 2025 AT 21:53

you say 'silent blockade' but the truth is, most russian users never cared about binance anyway. they were using local p2p markets and telegram bots since 2019. this is just the government catching up to what was already happening.
michael cuevas
December 12, 2025 AT 21:49

so binance got banned because they didn't wanna play nice? cool. so did apple when they refused to let russian apps pay in rubles. guess what? apple still works in russia. same thing. just pick a different app
Nina Meretoile
December 14, 2025 AT 17:39

it’s beautiful actually. the people who wanted crypto to be free are now using it to survive sanctions. the people who wanted to control it are using it to build a new financial empire. nobody wins. everyone adapts. that’s the real story.
Joe West
December 16, 2025 AT 08:00

if you're in russia and want to trade crypto, use bestchange. it's legal, safe, and reports everything. if you want to take risks, go for grinex-but don't cry when your funds vanish. no one’s protecting you.
Mariam Almatrook
December 16, 2025 AT 09:00

The notion that this is anything other than a totalitarian financial takeover is not merely naive-it is dangerously disingenuous. The state does not 'adapt.' It subjugates. And those who call it 'innovation' are complicit.
Chris Mitchell
December 16, 2025 AT 16:36

this isn't about bans. it's about sovereignty. every country controls its financial flow. the us blocks iran. china blocks binance. russia’s just doing it their way. no one’s innocent here.
nicholas forbes
December 18, 2025 AT 01:51

i don't get why people are shocked. the moment you tie crypto to a national banking system, it stops being crypto. it becomes a ledger. and ledgers don't rebel. they obey.
Martin Hansen
December 18, 2025 AT 05:28

so the 'free market' crypto crowd is mad because russia won't let them use their platform to launder cash for oligarchs? wow. what a moral crisis. next you'll cry about the taxman stealing your bitcoin.
Shane Budge
December 18, 2025 AT 09:15

how many people actually use grinex? or is this just media hype? i need real data, not conspiracy.
sonia sifflet
December 19, 2025 AT 16:48

you think this is unique? look at china. look at india. every major economy is building their own crypto rails. the west is the outlier. we're the ones still pretending blockchain is about freedom. it's not. it's about infrastructure.
Richard T
December 20, 2025 AT 17:05

i’ve seen this movie before. the internet was supposed to be free too. then governments showed up with firewalls and filters. crypto’s just the next chapter. the question isn’t if control will happen-it’s how fast we accept it.
jonathan dunlow
December 22, 2025 AT 14:54

listen-this isn’t doom and gloom. this is evolution. russia’s building a financial system that works for its people, even if it’s not perfect. you don’t have to like it. but you can’t ignore it. the future isn’t in san francisco anymore. it’s in moscow’s backrooms, coded in russian, running on stolen servers, and still somehow... working.
rita linda
December 24, 2025 AT 11:23

the fact that bestchange survived proves one thing: compliance is the new innovation. the rest are just criminals with better marketing.
Regina Jestrow
December 25, 2025 AT 22:05

i don’t know whether to laugh or cry. they turned crypto into a state utility. it’s like if paypal became part of the post office. surreal. but also... kind of genius?
Stanley Wong
December 26, 2025 AT 21:14

the whole thing feels like watching a ghost story where the ghost is the government. no one sees it but everyone feels it. grinex doesn’t exist. but everyone uses it. bestchange is real. but no one trusts it. and the people who built it? they’re probably sipping tea in a moscow highrise laughing at us
justin allen
December 27, 2025 AT 03:23

so binance got banned because they wouldn’t spy on their users? cool. next time someone says 'blockchain is decentralized' remind them: it’s just code. and code gets hacked. or regulated. or bought.
ashi chopra
December 27, 2025 AT 12:04

i grew up in a country where the government controlled everything. crypto was supposed to be the escape. now it’s the cage. i’m not sad. just... tired.
alex bolduin
December 28, 2025 AT 18:49

the real winner here isn't russia or the us. it's the engineers who built grinex. they didn't fight the system. they became it. that's the real crypto revolution
Melinda Kiss
December 30, 2025 AT 04:14

you know what’s wild? the people who use grinex aren’t criminals. they’re small business owners trying to buy medicine or tools. the system broke. they just found a way to fix it. maybe we should be asking why the system broke-not who’s using the workaround.
miriam gionfriddo
December 31, 2025 AT 18:42

and now they’re building a state crypto app inside sberbank? lol. so my bank will tell me how much i can trade? and when? and why? i’m out.