Elliptic: Five Cryptocurrency Exchanges Helped Russia Evade Sanctions, Filling Gap Left by Garantex Shutdown
On February 22, 2025, blockchain analysis firm Elliptic reported that following the U.S. seizure of sanctioned Russian crypto exchange Garantex in March 2025, at least five Russia-linked cryptocurrency platforms have continued enabling funding flows to sanctioned entities—most of which remain unsanctioned.
The report notes that only peer-to-peer (P2P) platform Bitpapa had previously been added to the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions list in March 2024. Elliptic found that roughly 9.7% of Bitpapa’s outgoing funds flowed to sanctioned entities, and the platform regularly changed wallet addresses to avoid detection.
Unsanctioned exchange ABCeX operates out of Moscow’s Federation Tower (Garantex’s former base) and has processed at least $11 billion in crypto transactions, with significant financial ties to Garantex and Aifory Pro.
Another platform, Exmo, claimed to leave the Russian market after the 2022 Russia-Ukraine conflict—but on-ch
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Polymarket: Probability of "Court Orders Trump to Refund Tariffs" Being Ruled Out Surpasses 80%
**Polymarket Data: 19% Chance Trump Ordered to Refund Tariffs by July 2026; 82% Denial Probability**
As of February 22, per data from prediction platform Polymarket, markets currently assign a 19% probability that a court will order former President Trump to refund the tariffs in question by July 2026. The likelihood the request will be denied has risen to 82%.
Per prior BlockBeats reporting, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on February 20 that Trump’s trade tax policy was illegal. The court found the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not authorize the president to impose such tariffs, upholding a lower court ruling from the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals that deemed Trump’s tariffs unlawful.
Trump later labeled the Supreme Court’s ruling a “disgrace” and noted he has alternative tariff plans in place following the decision.
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Fraud Losses in the Cryptocurrency Space Hit $370 Million in January, Reaching a Nearly 11-Month High
Uniswap founder Hayden Adams warned on February 22 that fake Uniswap search ads are still popping up, leading users to lose high-value crypto assets. Scammers buy ads targeting keywords like “Uniswap” to place fake websites at the top of search results. These sites closely mimic the official Uniswap interface—when users connect their wallets and authorize transactions, funds are immediately stolen. Notably, this attack relies on user signature authorization, not protocol-level vulnerabilities.
X user “Ika” reported losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in crypto assets after clicking a fake link in search results. Screenshots shared by the user show the deceptive link prominently displayed at the top of results, making it more misleading. A similar incident happened in October 2024: scammers copied Uniswap’s interface and used subtle button changes to trick users into connecting their wallets.
Security firm CertiK’s data shows the crypto industry lost roughly $370.3 million to
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Analysis: Bitcoin Bear Market Phase Dominated by Whale-led CEX Deposits, Stablecoin Inflows Plummet
February 22nd – In the current bear market, Bitcoin exchange inflows are being driven by large holders.
Data shows the exchange whale ratio has climbed to 0.64—its highest level since October 2015—meaning 64% of Bitcoin inflows to exchanges come from the top 10 largest single deposit addresses. This signals big investors are fueling selling pressure.
Meanwhile, February’s average single Bitcoin exchange inflow has risen to 1.58 BTC, the highest since the mid-2022 bear market. After Bitcoin pulled back to ~$60,000 earlier this month, total exchange inflows surged to ~60,000 BTC on February 6th (the highest since November 2024) before dropping to a 7-day average of ~23,000 BTC—a 60% decline from the peak. This suggests short-term panic selling has eased somewhat, but overall inflows still remain above prior months’ levels.
On the altcoin front, selling pressure is also clear. Since 2026, daily average altcoin deposits to exchanges have hit ~49,000 transactions—up 22% from ~40,00
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Caixin: RWAs Based on Hong Kong Assets Not Attributable to Mainland Chinese Regulators
February 22 – Per Caixin’s report, the regulatory framework for onshore assets issuing Real World Assets (RWAs) to offshore markets has taken shape following the joint release of the “Notice on Further Preventing and Disposing of Risks Related to Virtual Currency and Others” (Document 42) by the People’s Bank of China and eight other departments.
The core of Document 42 is a ban on onshore RWA issuance and strict regulation of offshore RWA activities.
According to knowledgeable regulatory sources:
- Hong Kong is one of the offshore RWA issuance locations. RWAs backed by Hong Kong assets fall outside Document 42’s scope and are not overseen by onshore regulators.
- Currently, no RWAs in offshore jurisdictions like Hong Kong are tied to onshore securities or fund underlying assets. If such RWAs existed, they would be the responsibility of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).
- The policy is no longer an “across-the-board ban,” but it should not be interpreted as
16 minutes ago
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