On March 29, 2024, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation released a revealing report regarding Russians' enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies. This document details that, during 2023, Russian citizens conducted cryptocurrency transactions totaling $51 billion.
The Central Bank of Russia highlights a significant economic event as Russians traded cryptocurrencies amounting billion dollars.
The Central Bank of Russia reveals the economic impact of Russians exchanging cryptocurrencies worth 51 billion dollars in 2023.
Economic Impact: It is estimated that Russians possess 97,000 Bitcoins. The Central Bank of the Russian Federation (CBR) unveiled a report on Friday, March 29, 2024, showing that Russian citizens executed cryptocurrency transactions valued at 4,780 billion rubles, roughly equivalent to 51 billion dollars, throughout 2023. The bulk of these transactions were concentrated on Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).
Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, Russians have experienced a strong period of inflation, reaching up to 17.8% in April 2022. This significant volume of exchange recorded in 2023 could be a sign of diminishing confidence in the ruble, in favor of Bitcoin and other digital assets.
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In detail, the CBR notes that the majority of Bitcoin transactions took place during the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2023, reaching a total volume of 700 BTC. Although significant, this volume is down from the previous year.
Furthermore, the Central Bank estimates that exchange platforms hold, on behalf of Russian citizens, nearly 97,000 Bitcoins, or 6.3 billion dollars. This would represent 3.1% less than the previous year.
The previous week, Bloomberg revealed an investigation conducted by the United States and the United Kingdom into illicit cryptocurrency transactions, suspecting 20 billion dollars of USDT, the Tether stablecoin pegged to the dollar, of being used to support the Russian military in the war in Ukraine. The investigation is still ongoing.
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