Russia Cracks Down on 9 Unregistered Crypto Exchanges in Moscow

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has cracked down on nine unregistered crypto exchanges in Moscow, detaining over 20 employees as part of an operation targeting money laundering channels.

The FSB alleged that these exchanges converted stolen funds from Russian victims of phone scams into cryptocurrency and transferred it to Ukrainian handlers. The operation was carried out jointly with the Interior Ministry, which has launched a criminal investigation into large-scale fraud.

Young people from Russian regions were recruited to work at the exchanges despite having limited financial literacy, according to the FSB.