Russian crypto exchanges resume operation after September police raids

Crypto exchange offices, recently searched by police in the Russian capital, have partially or fully resumed activities, according to a lawyer involved in crypto cases.

Coin trading companies operating out of a landmark business center in Moscow were targeted in multiple raids over the past weeks, with the latest resulting in seizure of cash and hardware.

Russian crypto exchanges Mosca and Rapira up and running again

Cryptocurrency exchangers based at the Moscow International Business Center, commonly known as Moscow City, are back in business.

“The situation with the exchange offices is improving. Even those visited by the ‘guys in uniforms’ are now operational,” Denis Mayasov, lawyer at the Legal Crypto law firm, told the Russian-language crypto news outlet Forklog.

Two crypto trading platforms, Mosca and Rapira, were hit in the latest of a series of law enforcement raids, with Russian authorities reportedly launching an investigation into suspected capital flight in late September.

Commenting on the matter for the “Podcast Society” program of Forklog’s YouTube channel on Monday, Mayasov revealed:

“Mosca is open today. It started working almost immediately. With Rapira, withdrawals are inactive, but the app is operating normally.”

Towards the end of last month, Bits.media reported these particular platforms have been subjected to searches, during which the authorities seized fiat cash and equipment. The Russian crypto information portal was quoting the Telegram channel Baza, known for its ties to Russian security forces.

The latter unveiled that officers took hold of over $10 million, 100 million rubles, and 200,000 euros from one of the affected exchanges, while also freezing funds of other platforms.

In another post, Baza claimed later that “all crypto exchanges in Moscow City have closed down,” following the police visits to the offices of Rapira and Mosca, disabling offline deposits and withdrawals.

Mayasov noted that while this isn’t quite the case, “the raids were so intense that no one was prepared for them.” The legal expert added that police acted “forcefully, rudely” and confirmed:

“Indeed, a large amount of cash and equipment, including laptops, phones, and other communication devices, were confiscated.”

Russian government going after ‘droppers’ and their bosses

While Russia has been taking steps to regulate some crypto activities, such as mining, which was recognized as a legal business activity in 2024, others, like trading, remain largely outside the law, except for a limited “experimental legal regime” used by Russian companies to circumvent sanctions.

Russian security services started raiding crypto exchange offices last fall, as per RBC Crypto, when they searched a number of locations in over a dozen Russian regions, opening criminal investigations into alleged illegal banking activities and payments.

According to Denis Mayasov, the sudden spike in police activity towards the end of the year now is mostly related to authorities going after “droppers,” as money mules are commonly called in Russia, and their handlers, rather than people involved in capital flight, as previously reported.

Droppers are often exploited by fraudsters who use bank accounts and cards registered under their names to process illicit transactions and launder dirty money. The lawyer commented:

“You can find a lot of cash and cards registered to unknown names … Today, operatives are actively searching for ‘dropper operators’.”

Russia’s crypto community fears, however, that a series of legislative changes and other measures, seemingly targeting this criminal phenomenon, are actually hurting ordinary crypto traders in the country.

Mayasov emphasized that while not illegal in Russia at this point, peer-to-peer crypto trades are a high risk, as associated transactions can be flagged as suspicious.

P2P traders may have troubles with the law and be targeted like the exchange platforms they are using, he warned, also advising them to make sure their taxes are paid.

Asked to comment on the future of crypto exchanges in Russia, Mayasov predicted the market will soon be centralized and closely supervised by the state.

“Five to 10 platforms will emerge that will operate under the auspices of centralization through banking channels and with government support,” he elaborated.

In August, a group of lawmakers urged the Bank of Russia to authorize the launch of licensed crypto trading platforms, as reported by Cryptopolitan. Their proposal detailed that this should be a “network of legal cryptocurrency exchanges with physical presence and clear requirements for their work.”