Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has fueled a rapid embrace of crypto technology within the country’s borders, according to a new study.
Russia is, by a wide margin, the top user of crypto among European nations, according to crypto forensic firm Chainalysis.
Russia has seen $379 billion in crypto inflows between July 2024 and June 2025, a year-over-year increase of more than 48%, the firm found. That placed the country ahead of the region’s longtime leader, the UK, which saw $273 billion in inflows — a relatively modest 32% increase from the year prior.
“I strongly believe that the growth and adoption of crypto assets in Russia has been driven by the war and sanctions regimes,” Matthias Bauer-Langgartner, Chainalysis’ head of European policy, told DL News.
“Crypto assets are not just casually used in order to evade sanctions. There is a real strategy, a long-term strategy behind them.”