The move follows reports that The Central Bank of Russia has started to examine the operations of Russian banks with cryptocurrency exchanges.

KoronaPay is the largest money transfer service in Russia and the CIS region - where money transfer fees are among the lowest in the world. The company is now looking to win over the migrant population in Europe and now offers payments across 79 countries in Europe, CIS, Middle East and Asia. The company is acquiring over 10,000 new users every week and is targeting €300m of remittances per month in Europe by the end of 2022.

KoronaPay has formally banned all crypto related transactions. It has also deployed a specially designed anti-fraud tool that uses AI to monitor and block transactions with crypto exchanges. The move follows reports that The Central Bank of Russia has started to examine the operations of Russian banks with cryptocurrency exchanges, which it believes carry risks of financial losses and fraud.

“While regulators in some European countries are still relatively relaxed about the explosive growth of crypto, It is increasingly clear that regulators in some of our markets are now pushing back against the rise of digital currencies. We want to reassure them that we have a zero tolerance policy for crypto related transactions and we will report any suspicious activity to the relevant authorities, as required by AML legislation, including in Europe,” comments Gleb Kozlov, CEO at KoronaPay Europe. “We are particularly concerned about the emergence of fraudulent exchanges, which often feature the names and logos of established financial institutions and payment providers on their websites to mislead consumers.”

According to the Central Bank of Russia, Russians are among the most active users in the cryptocurrency market with transaction volumes reaching $5 billion a year. Russia also ranks third in Bitcoin mining. The Central Bank has proposed a ban on the mining of cryptocurrencies as well as prohibit the payment of goods and services using digital currencies, including the issuance and exchange of cryptocurrencies. The Central Bank is also looking to introduce a ban on investing in cryptocurrencies.