The Bank of Russia reported that the volume of web traffic of Russians on the websites of cryptocurrency exchanges has grown over the past six months by 56.5%, to 166.9 million visits.

The Central Bank estimated the volume of cryptocurrency assets held by Russian investors at 4.8 trillion rubles, which is 18% more than six months ago. The main channels for purchasing digital assets from Russians are anonymous cryptocurrency exchangers and p2p sections of crypto exchanges, the chief financial regulator said.

“The main increase in activity occurred in the second quarter, when a record volume of web traffic of Russians on cryptocurrency platforms was recorded since the beginning of 2022 (about 88 million visits). The estimated balances on crypto exchange wallets as of September are estimated at 651 billion rubles, which is 16% less than in March. Of this amount, Bitcoin accounted for 69%, Ether – 21%, and stablecoins – 10%. The outflow of assets from crypto exchanges may be associated with a decrease in the level of market volatility,” explained the authors of the Central Bank study.

The Bank of Russia noticed that over the past six months, clicker games on Telegram have become popular, offering the user rewards in cryptocurrency. The regulator warned that increased demand for cryptocurrencies carries risks for the global economy.

“The expected support for crypto assets from the US leadership may further strengthen the interest of global investors in the crypto market. “Increasing use of crypto assets (the so-called cryptoization of the economy) could limit the sovereignty of monetary policy, reducing the ability of central banks to stabilize inflation,” the study authors warned.

According to Central Bank estimates, the price of Bitcoin increased in the fourth quarter due to the statements of the newly elected US President Donald Trump (Donald Trump) in favor of creating a strategic national reserve of the first cryptocurrency.

Earlier, the Bank of Russia presented a report on the specifics of tokenization of real world assets (RWA). The document talked about international and Russian trends in tokenization of traditional assets.