Binance’s share among Russian web traffic plunged by 30%, central bank says

According to the Bank of Russia, Russians are increasingly looking for new crypto platforms after Binance withdrew from the market.

According to the Bank of Russia’s latest research report, Binance’s departure from Russia has led to a serious change in web traffic as Russians begin to look for new alternatives. The central bank claims that the document shows a significant increase in crypto market activity among Russians during the 4th quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024 due to rising crypto valuations.

Following the departure of Binance, there was a significant redistribution of web traffic among Russian users. Binance’s share of Russian web traffic decreased from 47% in the third quarter of 2023 to 16% in the first quarter of 2024. Meanwhile, the share of five other crypto exchanges (the central bank did not name them) rose from 39% to 39%. 64% in the same period.

During the period in question, total web traffic of Russian users on major crypto platforms, including exchanges, peer-to-peer platforms and over-the-counter platforms, increased by 16.4% compared to the second and third quarters of 2023, reaching 104.6 million. The financial regulator says the visits took place without naming the platforms.

As a result, the average monthly number of unique users (IP addresses) on these platforms increased by more than 15%, while the proportion of Russian visits to these sites increased to 7% in the first quarter of 2024; but this rate is still below the peak of 9. The observer notes the percentage seen in the first quarter of 2023.

The Central Bank of Russia also reported that Russians’ inflows and outflows of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) increased to 15.6 trillion rubles (about $51 billion). % increase compared to the second and third quarters of 2023.

This change comes at a time of internal turmoil in the Russian crypto market; users were desperately searching for new safe havens for crypto amid reports of doom and gloom.

As Crypto.news previously reported, one such scandal involved Beribit, a Russian crypto exchange allegedly owned by Ukrainian oligarch Serhiy Kurchenko, who is reportedly linked to Ukrainian pro-Russian fugitive former president Viktor Yanukovych. Beribit recently deprived its customers of $4 million, further fueling the search for reliable crypto platforms. As of press time, reports indicate that the exchange has not refunded funds to its customers.

Despite increased activity and the search for new platforms, the Bank of Russia says the size of crypto investments is not yet significant enough to constitute the market as a separate risk to the country’s financial stability.