Bank of Russia: Citizens still hold $6.8b in crypto on exchanges

Russian crypto holdings on centralized exchanges still worth billions despite volatility, Bank of Russia reveals.

Russian crypto holdings on centralized exchanges still amount billions despite nearly a 16% decline comparing to March’s figures, per the Bank of Russia’s latest report.

According to the central bank’s data, Russians held $6.8 billion in crypto on centralized exchanges, marking a 15.8% decline from March. Despite this drop, Bitcoin (BTC) remains the dominant asset, making up 69% of total holdings, followed by Ethereum (ETH) at 21% and stablecoins at 10%.

The decline in exchange balances coincides with lower market activity, the central bank says, pointing out that recent months have seen reduced trading volumes.

One way or the other, Russian investors remain active in the broader crypto market. According to the central bank, web traffic to crypto exchanges in Russia grew by 56.5%, with Russian users now representing 7.5% of global visits. Additionally, crypto asset flows linked to Russian investors rose by 18%, reaching 4.8 trillion rubles (approximately $50 billion) in Q3.

Meme coins attract new users

The central bank also mentioned meme coins in the report, saying that although these assets have gained traction, they are not seen as major drivers of large-scale investment.

“Memecoins and similar mini-apps attract new users to the crypto asset market, but given the market capitalization of these projects relative to the broader crypto market, they do not serve as a significant channel for the inflow of substantial funds from citizens.”

The Bank of Russia

The report comes shortly after MegaFon, one of Russia’s largest telecom companies, reported an 8% surge in web traffic to crypto exchanges, driven by rising Bitcoin prices and changes in local regulations. The increase mirrors a global trend, with web traffic to the top 20 crypto exchanges up by 8% to 10% in November compared to October, the company explained.

According to MegaFon’s data, exchanges like Deribit saw a 126% jump in visits in early November, while other platforms, including HTX (formerly Huobi) and KuCoin, saw traffic increase by 24% and 23%, respectively. During the same period, exchanges such as Gate.io, Upbit, and Kraken experienced declines in web traffic, the data shows.