Access to BestChange Restored

The Russia-based crypto website BestChange is accessible once again. The website aggregates exchange information and may have been blocked for violating a law on advertising passed last year.

The BestChange website was blocked on Feb. 10 without warning and added to the list of banned websites maintained by Roskomnadzor, the federal communications authority. It was unblocked on Feb. 20.

Listing Exchange Data Could Violate Advertising Law

A spokesperson for BestChange told Reuters that the organization did not know the reason for its blockage. Lawyers for the organization were in contact with the Russian central bank and Roskomnadzor, but they were not informed of the reason for the blockage nor that the website would be unblocked, as reported by RBC.

Internet provider Megafon had posted a notice saying the website was blocked under the federal law “On the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (Bank of Russia).”

According to Similarweb.com, there are at least a few websites currently in operation that provide similar services in Russia.

Observers suspected that the website was violating amendments to the law on advertising that were passed in August, which prohibited the advertising of cryptocurrencies and services related to cryptocurrency.

Crypto Exchanges in a Changing Legal Environment

The website was blocked by Roskomnadzor in 2017, 2019, and 2020 due to prohibitions against Bitcoin use.

BestChange lists exchanges and compares the rates each offers for exchanges with cryptocurrency, fiat, electronic money, and other financial instruments. It can send notifications when exchange rates reach pre-chosen points and carry out “double-exchanges” using an intermediate vehicle when direct exchanges are unavailable.

BestChange continued to operate while its website was blocked, presumably because its mirror website, hosted outside the Russian Federation, remained accessible.

Russia has legalized and begun taxing crypto mining where local power supply permits, and it is allowing the use of cryptocurrency for international transactions to evade sanctions imposed by the U.S. and EU.

Additionally, discussions are reportedly underway to establish cryptocurrency exchange programs at the Moscow Exchange and St. Petersburg Currency Exchange. Russian President Vladimir Putin declared cryptocurrency a form of property in December. However, the central bank has since cracked down on over-the-counter crypto trading.

Despite these measures, Chainalysis ranked Russia seventh in cryptocurrency adoption in 2024.