Russian Citizens' Funds on Foreign Crypto Exchanges Decline to 720 Billion Rubles

Russian citizens' funds on foreign centralized exchanges (CEX) have seen a significant decline, decreasing by 23% to reach 720 billion rubles by the end of March. This reduction is part of a larger trend observed by the Bank of Russia in its recent financial stability review.

The report highlights that the majority of these assets are invested in Bitcoin (60%), followed by Ethereum (8%), and other coins (32%). The central bank also noted a 32% decrease in Russian traffic on foreign CEX websites during the reporting period, with approximately 56.5 million visits recorded.

Interestingly, the Bank of Russia has observed an increase in investments in Russian instruments linked to crypto asset values. As of April 1, these investments reached approximately 3.8 billion rubles. This growth is largely driven by the introduction of structured bonds tied to shares of iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF and iShares Ethereum Trust ETF from BlackRock.

The review also touches on the state of the cryptocurrency market, noting that it has not fully recovered from its sharp decline in October 2025. The average monthly price of Bitcoin was $73,500 by April 2026—36% below its October 2025 level. Ethereum fared similarly, averaging $2,300—45% lower than its October 2025 value.