The regulator is tightening digital hygiene: in the first half of 2026, the Bank of Russia included data on 2.6 thousand crypto wallets involved in illegal schemes in its information system for law enforcement and financial institutions. This is not just about monitoring — the total volume of funds passing through these addresses exceeded 1 billion rubles.
A systemic shift in oversight
In January–June alone, the regulator identified 2.9 thousand projects with signs of illegal activity, including financial pyramids. This is 31% less than a year earlier, but the figure has remained virtually unchanged compared to the previous half-year. What is more striking is this: the volume of flagged wallets has become an important element of digital compliance — banks and investigative bodies now use this data to assess client risk profiles and conduct financial investigations.
Notably, the number of unique pyramids and pseudo-brokers continues to decline. Fraudsters increasingly launch the same scheme under different brands or create clones of the main website. The regulator responds promptly: it identifies such pages on social networks and initiates their blocking, preventing the scheme from reaching a critical mass of participants.
Cryptowallets in focus
Of particular interest is the dynamics in the illegal lending segment — the number of detected cases doubled compared to the first half of 2025. The reasons are obvious: stricter requirements for legal MFOs push borrowers with high debt burdens into the shadows, and supply grows in response to demand. The regulator has begun to more actively use data from Rosreestr and the FSSP to uncover hidden lending schemes secured by real estate, where loans are issued by individuals and sole proprietors.
Against this backdrop, a surge of interest in hardware wallets is natural: sales of cold crypto wallets in the second quarter grew by 107% in units, and on marketplaces — by 84% over the half-year. The legalization of cryptocurrency in Russia and high-profile hacking stories, such as the Coldcard Mk3 experiment, where a base address without a password was drained instantly, have spurred demand for self-custodial storage.
Expert perspective
Wallet flagging is only the first step toward full traceability of digital assets. Combined with growing demand for cold storage and discussions of covenants in bitcoin, we are witnessing the formation of a new paradigm: regulators are learning to work with blockchain, and users — to protect their funds. However, the legal framework remains fragmented for now, and investors should independently assess the risks associated with transferring funds to foreign platforms.