Russian action against Ukrainian crypto exchange

Syed Rahman considers the approach Russia has taken to the Ukraine-based exchange WhiteBit.

The Ukraine-based cryptocurrency exchange WhiteBit has been declared a “notorious entity’’ by the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office.

The Prosecutor General’s Office has stated that WhiteBit is being used to facilitate illegal money transfers from Russia and to contribute to the financing of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (VSU). Its decision also covers WhiteBit’s parent company, W Group, and all its affiliated and subsidiary companies.

The stance taken by Russia may not come as a surprise due to the hostilities that have been ongoing since Russia invaded Ukraine almost four years ago.

Russian authorities allege that WhiteBit group’s platforms were used for various illegal activities, including “plans to siphon funds away from Russia.” They calculate that WhiteBit management has transferred approximately $11 million to the Ukrainian military since 2022; with about $900,000 of this allegedly used for the purchase of drones.

The statement from the Prosecutor General also alleges that WhiteBit cooperated with the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and provided technical support to the United24 platform, which collected crypto donations for Ukraine. Russian law enforcement claims that this cooperation facilitated the flow of crypto funds to Ukraine.

Volumes

WhiteBit was founded eight years ago by Ukrainian citizens. It says it has more than eight million users and reports daily trading volumes of approximately $11 billion in the spot market and up to $40 billion in futures trading.

In contrast, Russia has no registered and operating cryptocurrency exchanges under existing legislation. The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) aims to have the law finalised to cover the regulation of cryptocurrency exchanges and cryptocurrency exchange services by July 1st.

Last year saw a number of crypto networks sanctioned by Britain for having been used by Russia to evade Western sanctions. The sanctions were imposed on eight individuals and entities as part of the targeting of the infrastructure behind A7A5, a stablecoin that was launched in February 2025 by pro-Russian Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor and the sanctioned Russian state-owned bank Promsvyazbank.

A7A5 had proved difficult for Western authorities to monitor and was involved in the movement of an estimated $9.3 billion in its first four months; much of which is believed to have been sanctions evasion activity.