{"id":67135,"date":"2026-01-28T04:30:48","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T04:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/russia-blacklists-whitebit-over-claims-of-financial-support-for-ukraine\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T04:30:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T04:30:48","slug":"russia-blacklists-whitebit-over-claims-of-financial-support-for-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/russia-blacklists-whitebit-over-claims-of-financial-support-for-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia blacklists WhiteBIT over claims of financial support for Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Originally posted on : Russia News, Latest Stories & Analysis | Invezz )<\/b>
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Russian authorities have officially designated cryptocurrency exchange WhiteBIT and its parent firm W Group as \u201cundesirable organisations,\u201d citing their alleged financial and logistical support for Ukraine\u2019s defence infrastructure.<\/p>\n

The announcement, made Monday by the Prosecutor General\u2019s Office, enforces a complete ban<\/a> on WhiteBIT\u2019s operations within Russia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Under the ruling, both companies are barred from maintaining bank accounts, processing transactions, or offering services to Russian residents. <\/p>\n

Any association with them now constitutes a criminal offence under Russian law.<\/p>\n

Authorities accused the platform of aiding capital outflows through what they described as \u201cgray schemes\u201d and flagged its cooperation with Ukrainian state-affiliated entities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Russian prosecutors further alleged that the exchange had provided technical and financial support to initiatives backing Ukraine\u2019s military, including donations totalling $11 million in 2022. <\/p>\n

The same figure is also listed on WhiteBIT\u2019s website<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Of that amount, $900,000 was purportedly allocated for the purchase of drone systems, according to the Russian side.<\/p>\n

Russian officials further tied the exchange to United24, the crypto fundraising initiative launched by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.<\/p>\n

Even before the designation, WhiteBIT had already prohibited Russian users, including residents of occupied Ukrainian territories, under its Anti-Money Laundering (AML) policy. <\/p>\n

The firm cites adherence to European Union sanctions imposed on Russia following the 2022 invasion.<\/p>\n

WhiteBIT, which was founded in Kharkiv, Ukraine, by entrepreneur Volodymyr Nosov, now operates out of Vilnius, Lithuania, and recently launched a crypto trading platform tailored to US markets.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last year, it opened new offices in New York as part of its global expansion roadmap<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Despite the ban, the platform handled over $1.1 billion in trading volume over the past 24 hours, per CoinGecko data.<\/p>\n

Russia targets Ukraine\u2019s crypto efforts<\/h2>\n


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The blacklist is the latest escalation in Russia\u2019s legal campaign targeting crypto entities that it sees as undermining its geopolitical and financial controls.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The \u201cundesirable\u201d label is the Kremlin\u2019s most severe legal mechanism, used to criminalise any domestic interaction with a company.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Previous targets include not only exchanges but also politically affiliated organisations and crypto donors.<\/p>\n

Kuna, a Ukrainian exchange closely tied to the $100 million \u201cCrypto Fund for Ukraine,\u201d has also come under pressure.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Although not formally banned, Kuna\u2019s services are blocked in Russia, and its wallets are actively monitored. <\/p>\n

The exchange\u2019s founder, Michael Chobanian, has been vocal in calling for Russian exclusion from crypto markets.<\/p>\n

Russian authorities have also pursued individual users under anti-extremism and treason laws.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a notable case from 2025, a citizen from Yakutsk was sentenced to seven years in prison for transferring crypto to Ukraine\u2019s armed forces, which prosecutors argued was tantamount to aiding an enemy military.<\/p>\n

Over the past years, the Kremlin has also targeted crypto businesses with the motive of curbing capital flight and digital dissent.<\/p>\n

At the same time, it has promoted state-aligned alternatives<\/a> like the ruble-backed stablecoin A7A5, which is reportedly designed to bypass international restrictions while keeping capital flows under domestic oversight.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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(Originally posted on : Russia News, Latest Stories & Analysis | Invezz ) Russian authorities have officially designated cryptocurrency exchange WhiteBIT and its parent firm W Group as \u201cundesirable organisations,\u201d citing their alleged financial and logistical support for Ukraine\u2019s defence infrastructure. The announcement, made Monday by the Prosecutor General\u2019s Office, enforces a complete ban on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3947362366,"featured_media":67136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67135"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3947362366"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}