The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) has called on credit institutions to strengthen control over transactions linked to crypto trading platforms, which it lists among “shadow businesses.”
The push comes after the enforcement of a law empowering banks to impose a monthly limit on transfers made by persons suspected of fraudulent activities. It allows them to block card accounts and online banking services.
Russian banks told to monitor crypto-related transactions
Russia’s monetary authority has instructed commercial banks in the country to catch money transfers between payment cards of private individuals and the corporate cards of ghost firms that show little or no signs of real business activity.
Such entities are often used by “shadow businesses,” the regulator said in a circular, listing among these cryptocurrency exchangers, online casinos, financial pyramids, and drug dealers.
Russian banks have been asked to swiftly identify these types of transactions, using online monitoring tools “in close to real time mode,” and conduct a thorough analysis of the respective client’s transaction profile, RBC Crypto and Bits.media reported.
Banking institutions may restrict transactions of a customer who has been interacting with “counterparties that previously transferred money to droppers” or companies with fictitious activity, the CBR noted. The measures include limiting bank wires and prohibiting cash deposits.
“Droppers” is a colloquial Russian term that refers to people lending their bank accounts, cards and wallets to fraudsters who use them to launder criminal proceeds. The central bank has been trying to deal with the phenomenon known as money muling in the West.
As part of these efforts, Moscow adopted new legislation, which went into force in mid-May. The law allows authorities to cap the monthly bank transfers of individuals at 100,000 rubles ($1,300) if their bank details have been added to the CBR’s database of suspicious transactions.
When the limit is reached, online access to a blacklisted account may be blocked. The account holder is then required to contact the bank and present their passport and payment card before they can use the account again.
Dropper law hits peer-to-peer crypto traders in Russia
In the notice, the Bank of Russia remarked that its latest recommendations are voluntary for banks, but at the same time, the financial authority emphasized that they can help improve their anti-money laundering procedures.
Meanwhile, concerns have been growing that the new regulations targeting droppers are actually hitting crypto traders who have few options to buy and sell digital coins in Russia, where cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) are yet to be properly regulated.
The central bank’s dropper database is affecting crypto trading in general as it often includes not only the bank details of criminals and their accomplices but also of legitimate participants in peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto exchange, legal analysts told RBC.
The business news outlet noted that P2P has remained the only way to buy and sell cryptocurrency for users with a domestically issued card. And while the new limits will certainly make it harder for fraudsters to launder illicit funds, they will also restrict law-abiding participants in the market.
In May, the CBR revealed that crypto asset flows linked to Russian residents have spiked by over 51% during the last quarter of 2024 and the first three months of 2025, compared to the previous two quarters. The total reached 7.3 trillion rubles, or $91 billion at the time the bank published its latest financial stability review.
This month, the bank proposed to increase the maximum amount that ordinary Russians can invest in digital financial assets, such as tokenized securities, to 1 million rubles (over $12,600) from the current 600,000 rubles. However, the regulator continues to insist on limiting access to decentralized cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to only “highly qualified” investors.
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