Russians Offered Off-the-Shelf Crypto Exchange Accounts Despite Restrictions CryptoBlog

Russian crypto traders have sought to obtain unrestricted accounts for global exchanges as their access to these platforms is limited. Over the past year, the supply of such accounts on the dark web has increased significantly, cybersecurity experts told Russian media.

Supply of crypto exchange accounts for Russian users doubles in year of sanctions

More and more ready-made accounts for cryptocurrency exchanges are being sold to Russian residents. Although not a new phenomenon – such accounts are often used by fraudsters and money launderers – the current growth in supply has been attributed to restrictions imposed by trading platforms on customers. Russians, due to compliance with sanctions during the war. in Ukraine.

Russian residents bought these accounts despite the dangers, including the risk that whoever created them could retain access after the sale, the Kommersant reported. But they’re cheap, and offers on darknet markets have doubled since early 2022, Nikolay Chursin of Positive Technologies’ Information Security Threat Analysis Group told the Business Daily.

According to Peter Mareichev, an analyst at Kaspersky Digital Footprint Intelligence, the number of new advertisements for ready-made and verified wallets on various exchanges reached 400 in December. Proposals to prepare false documents to pass know-your-customer procedures have also increased, the newspaper revealed in a previous article last month.

Simple login credentials, username and password, usually cost around $50, Chursin added. And for a fully set up account, including the documents it was registered with, a buyer would have to pay an average of $300. Dmitry Bogachev of digital threat analysis firm Jet Infosystems explained that the price depends on factors such as country and date of registration as well as business history. Old accounts are more expensive.

Sergey Mendeleev, CEO of the defi banking platform Indefibank, pointed out that there are two categories of buyers: Russians who have no other choice because they need an account for daily work and those who use these accounts for criminal purposes. Igor Sergienko, director of development at cybersecurity service provider RTK-Solar, believes much of the demand is due to crypto exchanges blocking Russian accounts or withdrawals to Russian bank cards in recent months.

Major crypto service providers, including major digital asset exchanges, have complied with financial restrictions introduced by the West in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Last year, the world’s largest crypto-trading platform, Binance, reported that while restricting sanctioned individuals and entities, it did not ban all Russians.

However, since the end of 2022, a number of Russian Binance users have complained that they had their accounts blocked without explanation, because reported by Forklog. There have been numerous issues for weeks, including suspended withdrawals amid prolonged checks, affected customers said. The company told the crypto news outlet that the blocking of users from Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States was related to the case of the seized crypto exchange. Bitzlato.

Do you think the restrictions will drive more Russians to buy off-the-shelf accounts for cryptocurrency exchanges? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below.

Lubomir Tassev

Lubomir Tassev is a tech-savvy Eastern European journalist who loves Hitchens’ quote: “Being a writer is who I am, rather than what I do.” Besides crypto, blockchain and fintech, international politics and economics are two other sources of inspiration.