Elliptic says five exchanges — Bitpapa, ABCeX, Exmo, Rapira and Aifory Pro — are facilitating ruble-to-crypto conversions that can be moved across borders and converted to other fiats, effectively enabling sanctions evasion. Bitpapa is already OFAC-sanctioned and reportedly rotates wallet addresses to avoid enforcement. ABCeX, said to operate from Moscow’s Federation Tower, has processed at least $11 billion with flows to Garantex and Aifory Pro. Exmo appears to still operate in Russia and shares custodial wallet infrastructure between Russian- and Western-facing platforms, with over $19.5 million in direct transactions with sanctioned entities. Rapira routed over $72 million to sanctioned successor Grinex. Aifory Pro provides USDT virtual payment cards to bypass service restrictions. Elliptic says this network expanded after authorities took down Garantex last year; the report comes amid record flows to illicit crypto addresses and regulatory moves including a proposed EU ban on crypto transactions with Russia.

Elliptic documents concrete facilitation of ruble-to-crypto flows by named exchanges (Bitpapa, ABCeX, Exmo, Rapira, Aifory Pro), quantifies flows ($11B, $19.5M, $72M), cites OFAC-sanctioned actor rotating wallets and USDT virtual cards to bypass restrictions, and notes regulatory responses — facts that imply negative regulatory and enforcement pressure.