Russia

Russian authorities said they have no plans to block Google, as doing so would disrupt Android phones used by 60% of Russians. Meanwhile, YouTube faces restrictions, WhatsApp is fully blocked, and Telegram has been slowed under recent Russian internet measures.

Russia is trying to block its people from accessing WhatsApp, the Meta-owned messaging platform, in what the company says is an effort to push users toward the state-backed app Max. The restriction affects tens of millions of Russians who rely on the platform for private communication.

The European Union is preparing to wage war against Russia by implementing a complete ban on all cryptocurrency transactions between EU residents and Russian entities

The EU plans to sanction two Kyrgyz banks and several other foreign lenders for helping Russia move money through crypto and bypass existing sanctions. It also wants to block all crypto transactions linked to Russia, including stablecoins and the digital rouble, to close this route for payments and trade.

BitRiver’s founder and chief executive Igor Runets has been placed under house arrest on tax evasion charges, as a Russian court opened bankruptcy supervision against the company’s main holding firm over unpaid debts. At the same time, large parts of BitRiver’s mining operations have shut down and senior managers have resigned, deepening the crisis at Russia’s biggest Bitcoin miner.

Russian authorities have placed Igor Runets, founder and CEO of BitRiver — one of the country’s largest Bitcoin mining companies — under house arrest as part of an investigation into alleged tax evasion, deepening the legal and financial challenges facing the firm.

Russia has banned crypto exchange WhiteBIT and its parent company from operating in the country, accusing them of helping fund Ukraine’s military and moving money out of Russia through illegal schemes. WhiteBIT says it already blocked Russian users in 2022 and views the ban as confirmation of its pro-Ukraine stance.

Telegram has had $500 million of its bonds frozen in Russia because of Western sanctions, blocking payments to Russian holders. The company’s business continues to grow globally, with strong revenues and plans for a future IPO despite the bond freeze.

Over $35 million in cryptocurrency stolen from LastPass users since 2022 has been traced to Russian cybercriminals using weak master passwords and laundering funds through mixers and Russian exchanges. TRM Labs found the thefts continued for years, showing that even encrypted vaults can be compromised if security practices are weak.

Russia has once again drawn a firm line on cryptocurrency, reaffirming that Bitcoin and other digital assets cannot be used for payments inside the country, with all domestic transactions required to be settled exclusively in rubles.