As of the end of March, the funds of Russian citizens on foreign centralized crypto exchanges decreased by 23% compared to the previous two quarters, reaching 720 billion rubles. This is stated in the latest financial stability review from the Central Bank of Russia.

The regulator noted that 60% of this amount was in Bitcoin, 8% in Ethereum, and 32% in other cryptocurrencies.

According to the "Transparent Blockchain" service, traffic from Russians to foreign CEX websites fell by 32% during the reporting period, totaling 56.5 million visits.

Growth of Synthetic Investments

Additionally, the central bank reported an increase in investments in Russian instruments linked to the value of crypto assets. As of April 1, these investments reached approximately 3.8 billion rubles.

Specifically, the volume of ETF-based bonds in circulation amounted to 4.1 billion rubles. Of this amount, 1.7 billion rubles, or 42%, came from individuals and non-profit organizations. Among the products mentioned by the central bank were structured bonds linked to the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF and iShares Ethereum Trust ETF from BlackRock. The report also referenced futures on the Moscow Exchange for Bitcoin and Ethereum indices (MOEXBTC, MOEXETH) and for cryptocurrency ETFs (IBIT, ETHA).

The open net position of retail investors in cryptocurrency futures was estimated at 1.7 billion rubles, with around 5,600 participants.

Approximately 3,800 individuals invested 354 million rubles in digital financial assets (DFAs). Within auto-follow strategies, 271 individuals invested 85.6 million rubles in synthetic crypto instruments.

BTC and ETH Prices Below October Levels

The review indicated that the crypto market did not recover during the reporting period following the sharp decline in October 2025, unlike the stock market. In April 2026, the average monthly price of Bitcoin was $73,500, which is 36% lower than the October 2025 level. Ethereum averaged $2,300, down 45%.

The Central Bank attributed the reasons for this correction to a shift of investors towards traditional assets amid political tensions, expectations of a more hawkish stance from major central banks, and Bitcoin sell-offs by miners due to rising production costs.

Additionally, the Bank of Russia highlighted stablecoins, whose market capitalization has remained around $300 billion since October 2025, with transaction volumes reaching $1.5 trillion in March 2026.

It is worth noting that at the end of April, the first reading of the bill "On Digital Currency and Digital Rights" took place. This bill adds a definition of cryptocurrency as a monetary value for foreign trade calculations and mandates that transactions be conducted only through licensed intermediaries. The procedure for administering wallets by digital depositories has sparked particular debate.

ForkLog provided a detailed analysis of the document in a podcast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFwUCJ4Lhe4&lc=Ugz5MGWpcu-b30ZwL9p4AaABAg