The darknet is buzzing with proposals to unlock Russian crypto assets
In Brief
Announcements promote the ability to withdraw money from Binance, Kraken, Huobi, and KuCoin
The commission ranges from 35% of the amount withdrawn to 85%
20,000 Russians had accounts blocked with assets worth over $1bln
In the wake of U.S. sanctions against Russia, a new market on the darknet is bustling with proposals to help Russians withdraw their crypto assets. On the dark web, proposals started to surface for the release of assets from Russians’ blocked accounts on international cryptocurrency exchanges. The journal “Kommersant” spoke with experts about the ideas for the release of money from restricted accounts on foreign cryptocurrency exchanges that have appeared on the darknet.
Funds withdrawals from Binance, Kraken, Huobi, and KuCoin are offered in the announcements. The commission ranges from 35% of the amount withdrawn to 85%. However, Angelina Sevostyanova, a corporate practice attorney at Key Consulting Group, cautions that there may be fraudulent bids among them as their prevalence is on the rise.
Recall that in October, the European Union reinforced its restrictions against cryptocurrencies used by Russia. Prior to it, there was a restriction of 10,000 euros on the total amount of assets that companies with European licenses could hold for Russian customers.
Trading platforms like BitMEX, Bitstamp, WhiteBIT, and Gemini have stopped access to Russian customers, and some, like Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken, have partially restricted Russian users’ ability to transact. Between 10,000 and 20,000 Russians were reportedly prohibited from using cryptocurrency exchanges, according to Anna Avakimyan, chief analyst at RegBlok, who also had assets worth over $1 billion.
Interestingly, the Russian government has been cracking down on crypto use within the country. The new market on the darknet may be a way for Russians to get around the ban.
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Damir is the team leader, product manager, and editor at Metaverse Post, covering topics such as AI/ML, AGI, LLMs, Metaverse, and Web3-related fields. His articles attract a massive audience of over a million users every month. He appears to be an expert with 10 years of experience in SEO and digital marketing. Damir has been mentioned in Mashable, Wired, Cointelegraph, The New Yorker, Inside.com, Entrepreneur, BeInCrypto, and other publications. He travels between the UAE, Turkey, Russia, and the CIS as a digital nomad. Damir earned a bachelor's degree in physics, which he believes has given him the critical thinking skills needed to be successful in the ever-changing landscape of the internet.
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Damir is the team leader, product manager, and editor at Metaverse Post, covering topics such as AI/ML, AGI, LLMs, Metaverse, and Web3-related fields. His articles attract a massive audience of over a million users every month. He appears to be an expert with 10 years of experience in SEO and digital marketing. Damir has been mentioned in Mashable, Wired, Cointelegraph, The New Yorker, Inside.com, Entrepreneur, BeInCrypto, and other publications. He travels between the UAE, Turkey, Russia, and the CIS as a digital nomad. Damir earned a bachelor's degree in physics, which he believes has given him the critical thinking skills needed to be successful in the ever-changing landscape of the internet.
