Elliptic Says Five Crypto Exchanges Help Russia Evade Sanctions
Five cryptocurrency exchanges are allegedly enabling Russian users to circumvent international sanctions, according to a report published Saturday by blockchain analytics firm Elliptic. The firms reportedly filled a gap left by Russian exchange Garantex after its website was taken offline in March.
Elliptic identified Bitpapa, ABCeX, Exmo, Rapira and Aifory Pro as platforms facilitating conversions from Russian rubles to crypto, which can then be transferred across borders without intermediaries and exchanged back into fiat currencies.
“Despite growing regulatory pressure, many of these exchanges, some with nominal registrations outside Russia, still facilitate high volumes of cryptoasset trading linked to sanctioned entities,” Elliptic said.
The network reportedly emerged after authorities took down Garantex’s website in March. Garantex had been heavily sanctioned in mid-2022 for facilitating crypto tied to illicit activity and for helping Russia evade sanctions imposed following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Last month, Chainalysis reported that sanctions contributed to crypto inflows to illicit addresses reaching $154 billion in 2025 — a record high — driven by “unprecedented volumes associated with nation-states.”
Bitpapa is the only exchange already sanctioned
Elliptic said Bitpapa is the only one of the five already sanctioned, following its designation by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in March 2024 for supporting sanctions evasion.
The firm found that approximately 9.7% of Bitpapa’s outgoing crypto flows were directed to OFAC-sanctioned targets and claimed the exchange manages its wallets to avoid enforcement by frequently rotating addresses.
Elliptic reported that ABCeX operates an office in Moscow’s Federation Tower — the same location previously used by Garantex — and has processed at least $11 billion in crypto, with significant amounts sent to Garantex and Aifory Pro.
In its most notable finding, Elliptic alleged that Exmo continues to operate in Russia despite announcing its exit after the Ukraine invasion through the sale of its local business to Exmo.me. Elliptic said Exmo.com and Exmo.me share the same custodial wallet infrastructure, allowing funds from the Russia-focused platform to be commingled with the Western-facing entity, and reported over $19.5 million in direct transactions with sanctioned entities.
Elliptic also highlighted Rapira, an exchange registered in Georgia with a Moscow office, which it said conducted more than $72 million in direct transactions with the sanctioned exchange Grinex, described as Garantex’s successor.
The firm further noted that Aifory Pro, which serves Moscow, Dubai and Türkiye, explicitly enables the circumvention of service restrictions by offering virtual payment cards funded with USDt (USDT) to pay for foreign services blocked in Russia.
Earlier this month, Russia’s finance ministry and central bank reportedly urged the government to accelerate the rollout of cryptocurrency regulations amid rising domestic adoption of digital assets.
The European Union is also aiming to adopt on Monday a sanctions package that would prohibit all crypto transactions with Russia, in a broad move intended to restrict the country’s access to the technology.
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