According to the latest regulatory report released by the Central Bank of Russia for the first half of 2025, while the overall number of illicit financial activities has decreased significantly, a stronger trend of "crypto infiltration" has emerged. The data reveals a key phenomenon: although cases of financial pyramid schemes have decreased, the proportion involving cryptocurrencies has reached a new high. As regulation intensifies and fraud methods become more digital, market risks have not disappeared, but rather have taken on a more covert form.
While illicit financial activities have declined overall, crypto penetration has increased.
According to statistics released by the Bank of Russia, 7,087 entities exhibiting characteristics of illicit financial activities were identified in the first half of 2025, a decrease of approximately 21.5% compared to 9,027 in the same period of 2024. On the surface, the crackdown on the Russian financial market appears to have yielded positive results.
However, further analysis of the types of violations reveals that cryptocurrency-related scams remain a major problem.
In the first half of 2025, a total of 3,562 cases of financial pyramid schemes were discovered, a decrease of approximately 35% compared to the same period last year. However, it is alarming that a staggering 84% of these cases involved cryptocurrency or digital asset investments, compared to 77% in 2024. In other words, while the number of cases decreased, the penetration rate of crypto elements in scams continued to rise.
This means that scammers have turned cryptocurrency into the most compelling narrative tool, packaging it to capitalize on market interest in blockchain and digital assets.
Scams are moving entirely online: Telegram becomes a major breeding ground.
The central bank pointed out that most financial pyramid schemes have moved entirely online. 3,519 cases were promoted through websites, social media platforms, and instant messaging software, with a significant amount using Telegram channels and social media accounts for advertising.
Scammers commonly use phrases like "AI quantitative trading," "blockchain mining dividends," and "overseas crypto funds" to lure users with promises of high returns. These cases often lack actual investment targets, or the so-called on-chain operations simply do not exist.
In terms of operation, "small profit bait" has become a common strategy. After the initial investment, victims can withdraw a small amount of "profit" to create the illusion that the platform is real and reliable. Once investors increase their investment, or even invest more funds through loans, the platform will refuse to withdraw funds under the pretext of paying margin, handling fees, or risk control review, and the funds will eventually disappear.
This type of model is structurally similar to some decentralized finance (DeFi) scams, but in reality, no real on-chain transactions are conducted; it merely uses technological language as a cover.
Cases of illegal securities trading and high-leverage trading increased by 13%.
In contrast to the decline in pyramid scheme cases, the number of illegal securities market practitioners has increased.
In the first half of 2025, the central bank identified 2,183 entities engaged in securities or high-leverage trading without authorization, an increase of approximately 13% from 1,936 in 2024. A significant proportion of these involved fictitious cryptocurrency trading platforms or entities falsely claiming to hold overseas digital asset licenses, promising investors stable returns.
These platforms often tout themselves as "internationally regulated," "licensed in Europe," or "legally registered offshore," but in reality, they lack any compliance qualifications. When market volatility intensifies, investors often only realize the risks when they are unable to withdraw their funds.
Crypto-secured lending and illegal fundraising are emerging as new variations.
Illegal lending activities also have a gray area connection with the crypto market. In the first half of 2025, a total of 1,118 illegal lending entities were discovered, a decrease of about 27% from 1,531 in the previous year. Some operators use crypto assets as collateral, claiming that they can lend money quickly, but in reality they charge high interest rates and even directly embezzle the collateral.
Regulators have referred 137 high-risk cases involving real estate or other assets as collateral to law enforcement, demonstrating their high level of vigilance against this type of scheme.
It is worth noting that in 2025, the Central Bank of Russia first listed "illegal investment fundraising" as a separate statistical category, identifying 189 related entities in the first half of the year. These cases typically promise annualized returns of 40% to 60% and package cryptocurrencies as a global asset allocation tool to attract investors with initial funds of 500,000 to 1 million rubles.
Increased regulations: 21,500 websites blocked, 1,300 accounts restricted
In response to the trend of digitalization and technological advancement in fraud patterns, the Central Bank of Russia is strengthening technology regulation and inter-agency cooperation.
The authorities have established and are updating a list of illicit financial entities daily, integrating it into the KYC (Know Your Customer) monitoring system. They are also sharing payment instrument data with banks, and in the first half of the year, restrictions were imposed on over 1,300 payment accounts to block the flow of illicit funds.
On the enforcement front, more than 440 administrative cases were initiated in the first half of 2025, along with more than 650 other enforcement actions. Access to more than 21,500 illicit financial websites was restricted, an increase of approximately 30% compared to 2024. Among these, the proportion of websites related to crypto investments increased significantly.
The risks in the crypto have not subsided; regulation and investor education remain crucial.
Overall, while the number of illicit activities in the Russian financial market has decreased, cryptocurrency remains a favorite tool for scammers. Regulatory pressure is squeezing the space for illegal platforms, but scams are also evolving, shifting towards more covert and digital operating models.
This report sends two clear signals: First, cryptocurrencies themselves are not a scam, but "guaranteed high returns" almost always come with extremely high risks; second, regulatory intensity and transparency are becoming core variables in market development.
This article, titled "Russia Cracks Down on Crypto Scams: Pyramid Scams Plunge by 35% in the First Half of 2025, But 84% Involving Digital Assets," first appeared on ABMedia, a ABMedia .
