Data: Russian cryptocurrency trading volume drops rapidly, plunging more than 50% from peak

Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis said Wednesday that cryptocurrency trading volume denominated in rubles had fallen by more than half as of March 18 from a peak of about $70 million on March 7.

Madeleine Kennedy, senior director at Chainalysis, said the data only includes Russian investors' trading activity on cryptocurrency exchanges and does not include all transactions they make on the chain.

In addition, data analysis firm Kaiko provided data to corroborate the fact that Russian cryptocurrency trading volumes are rapidly declining. Trading volume in ruble-denominated Tether, a stable coin anchored to the U.S. dollar, also slipped from a peak of about $38 million on March 7.

Kaiko said the ruble/USDT trading volume on March 22 was even less than $5 million.

On Tuesday, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde noted that there are signs that the Russians are bypassing sanctions through cryptocurrencies, but she did not provide more details.