What Crypto Exchanges Are Banned in Russia? The Full Regulatory Breakdown
6 November 2025
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When you hear that Russia has banned crypto exchanges, it sounds simple - like a wall going up around digital currencies. But the truth is messier. Russia hasn’t banned all crypto. It hasn’t even banned most exchanges. Instead, it’s playing a long game: letting some platforms operate, crushing others, and building its own system underneath it all. If you’re trying to figure out which exchanges you can’t use in Russia, or why some disappeared overnight, you need to understand the real rules - not the headlines.
Garantex: The Exchange That Got Crushed
Garantex was once Russia’s biggest crypto exchange. It handled billions in trades, mostly in rubles and stablecoins, and was a go-to for people avoiding Western banking systems. But in 2022, the U.S. Treasury slapped it with sanctions for helping evade international sanctions. That didn’t kill it - not right away. Garantex kept running, quietly shifting operations, hiding behind shell companies, and moving money through crypto-to-fiat gateways in places like the UAE and Thailand. Then, on March 6, 2025, everything changed. The U.S. Secret Service, working with German and Finnish police, raided Garantex’s digital infrastructure. They seized its domain, froze over $26 million in crypto, and shut down its servers. The exchange officially closed in spring 2025. But here’s the twist: Garantex didn’t die. It split. Its core team, led by Sergey Mendeleev, created 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,” helping Russian businesses pay for foreign goods using crypto. It’s not listed on any public exchange directory. It doesn’t need to. It works through private networks, and Russian authorities haven’t touched it - because it’s not violating Russian law. It’s following it.Grinex: The Ghost of Garantex
While Garantex was being dismantled, former employees launched Grinex. It looked like a fresh start - same interface, same user base, same trading pairs. But the U.S. Treasury saw right through it. In early 2025, OFAC added Grinex to its sanctions list, calling it a direct successor to Garantex. The Department of Justice unsealed indictments against two key figures: Aleksandr Mira Serda and Aleksej Besciokov. Besciokov was arrested in India. Mira Serda is still on the run. The State Department is offering up to $5 million for information leading to his capture. Grinex’s servers are gone. Its website is down. But users report that some of its trading channels still work through Telegram bots and private P2P groups. It’s not an exchange anymore - it’s a ghost network. And in Russia, ghost networks thrive when they’re quiet.What About Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken?
You won’t find Binance, Coinbase, or Kraken on Russia’s official list of banned sites. That’s because Russia didn’t ban them. They banned themselves - or rather, they were forced out. These platforms are based in the U.S., Europe, or Singapore. They follow Western sanctions. They can’t legally serve Russian users without violating U.S. or EU laws. So they cut off Russian accounts. They blocked ruble deposits. They stopped supporting Russian ID verification. Banks in Russia can’t process payments to these platforms anyway - the Central Bank of Russia forbids financial institutions from linking to foreign crypto exchanges. So while Binance isn’t technically banned, you can’t use it in Russia. Same with Coinbase. Same with Kraken. The infrastructure is gone. The door is locked. Not by Russian law - by international compliance.
BestChange: The One That Got Back In
BestChange is different. It’s not an exchange. It’s a crypto aggregation platform - like a price comparison site for buying and selling crypto. In 2024, Roskomnadzor blocked it for listing foreign payment systems and currencies like the Kazakhstani tenge. That was a red flag for Russian regulators: foreign money flowing in, potentially bypassing controls. But BestChange didn’t fight. It changed. It removed all foreign currency listings. It stopped showing ruble-to-foreign-crypto rates. It rewrote its compliance protocols with legal advisors. By early 2025, it submitted its revised system to the Bank of Russia. After months of review, Roskomnadzor lifted the ban. BestChange is back online. This is the real lesson: Russia doesn’t want to ban crypto. It wants to control it. If you adapt, you survive.How Russia Actually Regulates Crypto Exchanges
Russia’s crypto rules aren’t about banning. They’re about filtering. The key law came in 2020: crypto is legal as an asset, but not as a payment method. That changed in 2024, when new rules allowed crypto payments for international trade. Suddenly, Russian exporters could use Bitcoin to pay for German machinery - as long as the transaction passed through a government-approved channel. Now, here’s what matters to regulators:- Know Your Customer (KYC): Every user must be verified with Russian ID. Foreign passports? Not accepted.
- Anti-Money Laundering (AML): All transactions must be monitored. Suspicious P2P trades? Reported to the Central Bank.
- No foreign payment systems: PayPal, Wise, Revolut - blocked. Only Russian banks and approved fintechs can handle crypto payments.
- State-controlled infrastructure: The Bank of Russia is building a national crypto gateway - not for public use, but for big businesses and sanctioned entities.
The Future: Russia’s Own Crypto System
On October 4, 2025, Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov announced something big: Russia is launching an experimental national crypto infrastructure. It’s not a digital ruble. It’s something else - a government-monitored network for institutional crypto trading, tied to Russia’s foreign trade and sanctioned entities. This isn’t about Bitcoin freedom. It’s about control. The Bank of Russia already lets qualified investors - people with over 50 million rubles ($500,000+) in assets - trade crypto. Soon, large Russian firms will be able to use this new system to settle cross-border deals in digital assets, under state supervision. Think of it like China’s digital yuan: not a ban on crypto, but a state-run alternative. The goal? Keep money flowing, keep sanctions from hurting trade, and make sure the government sees every transaction.What This Means for Users
If you’re in Russia and want to trade crypto, here’s what you need to know:- Don’t use Binance, Coinbase, or Kraken. They’re unreachable - not because Russia blocked them, but because they blocked themselves.
- Avoid Garantex and Grinex. They’re gone. Any site claiming to be them is a scam or a trap.
- BestChange is safe. It’s back, legal, and compliant.
- Exved is real - but not for regular users. It’s for businesses with foreign contracts. You won’t sign up for it.
- P2P trading is still alive. Many Russians use local Telegram groups or peer-to-peer apps to buy crypto with bank transfers. It’s risky, but it works.
Is it illegal to use crypto in Russia?
No, it’s not illegal to own or trade cryptocurrency in Russia. The law allows crypto as an asset. But you can’t use it to pay for goods or services inside Russia - except under special government-approved conditions for international trade. The ban is on using crypto as money, not as an investment.
Why did Russia ban Garantex but not BestChange?
Garantex was used to move money in ways that helped evade international sanctions - like sending rubles to foreign crypto wallets. BestChange, after changes, stopped showing foreign currency rates and removed links to banned payment systems. It complied with Russia’s rules. Garantex didn’t. Russia doesn’t ban platforms for being crypto - it bans them for being tools of sanctions evasion.
Can I still trade crypto using P2P apps in Russia?
Yes, many Russians use Telegram groups, local P2P apps, and even bank transfers to buy crypto from individuals. These trades aren’t regulated, so they’re risky. If you’re caught laundering money or evading taxes, you could face penalties. But as long as you’re not moving large sums or using foreign platforms, most users aren’t targeted.
Are Binance and Coinbase officially banned by Russian law?
No. Russia hasn’t issued a legal order banning Binance or Coinbase. Instead, these platforms voluntarily cut off Russian users to comply with U.S. and EU sanctions. Russian banks are also forbidden from processing payments to them. So while they’re not on Roskomnadzor’s blacklist, they’re effectively unusable in Russia.
What’s the difference between Garantex and Exved?
Garantex was a public crypto exchange that got shut down for sanctions evasion. Exved is a private payment service created by the same team, but it doesn’t call itself an exchange. It operates as a B2B payment processor for Russian importers and exporters. It’s legal because it fits Russia’s new rules for international trade - and it avoids public trading altogether.
Will Russia ever allow foreign crypto exchanges again?
Only if they fully comply with Russian regulations: mandatory KYC using Russian IDs, no foreign payment links, real-time transaction reporting to the Bank of Russia, and no ties to sanctioned entities. So far, no major Western exchange has agreed to those terms. Until they do, they’ll stay blocked - not by law, but by choice.