Crypto in Eastern Europe
On Thursday 24th of February, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. War had broken out in Eastern Europe. Although we’re not here to comment on the political situation in Ukraine and beyond, we can observe one fact: Ukraine’s government turned to crypto in trying times. The crypto community responded. In the first 5 days of its inception, Unchain Fund, a crypto charity fund for Ukraine founded by prominent figures in blockchain, raised more than $1.8m. They’ve since gone on to raise millions more. Now, this is perhaps the highlight of crypto’s strength in Eastern Europe throughout 2022, but in....
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Of all funds sent to illicit cryptocurrency addresses from Eastern Europe, scams attract the greatest amount, according to a new report. In the past year alone, crypto addresses based in the region have sent the fraudulent schemes a staggering $815 million in crypto.
Eastern Europe Leads by Volume of Illicit Crypto Transactions
Among the world’s regions with a total crypto transaction volume of at least $400 million, Eastern Europe is the only one where illicit activity exceeds 0.5% of the total value sent and received, Chainalysis notes in a preview of its 2021....
Scams make up the largest share of funds sent from Eastern Europe to illicit addresses. Recent research has revealed that Eastern Europe remains a very high source of cybercrime activity — both from victims to scams, and from users to darknet markets — in the cryptocurrency sector.Cryptocurrency addresses based in the Eastern European region have the second-highest exposure to illicit activity after Africa, according to a report published on Sept. 1 by blockchain research firm Chainalysis. However Eastern Europe has a much larger overall crypto economy than both Africa and Latin America....
Through an integration of the European payment network, WoraPay, users of the London-based Bitcoin mobile wallet SpectroCoin now can spend bitcoin at numerous Eastern European merchants. Paying merchants with bitcoin is done indirectly, however. Users' fund their WoraPay accounts with bitcoin sent from their SpectroCoin wallets, and then pay the merchant with euros through their phone. Though WoraPay has its own mobile wallet, the company also opened its payment network to third-party wallets. This gives other mobile wallets access to a growing number of merchants across Europe that accept....
Most people look at Europe as an easy place to buy and sell bitcoins. For the most part, this stereotype is fairly accurate. However, there are still several countries — mostly located in Eastern Europe and non-European Union states — where there is a demand for competition among Bitcoin exchanges. Anycoin Direct is expanding their services to these countries by launching a new service called Trustpay. Bitcoin enthusiasts all across Europe have heard of Anycoin Direct, as the company is on a mission to become Europe’s largest Bitcoin exchange. Even though this service only launched in....
Exmo, a U.K.-based crypto exchange with extensive presence in Eastern Europe, is pulling out of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. The trading platform, Exmo.com, says it’s making the move to avoid jeopardizing its expansion in other regions by operating in high-risk markets like these. The business has been sold to a Russian vendor, alongside rights to the Exmo.me domain and branding. Crypto Exchange Exmo Transfers Russia Operations to Local Entity Major Eastern European exchange Exmo announced earlier this week it’s selling its digital asset business in Russia and Belarus.....