Experiences sending money to Russia using cryptocurrencies

Travel to Russia
21

@antoniob Thank you again antoniob

It seems to me that the biggest problem is finding a UK bank that will allow me to buy crypto. So, if I go down the telegram wallet route then will some UK banks allow me to buy ‘Ton’ ? I worry because some people seem to get their bank accounts blocked.

Does anyone have a list of crypto friendly uk banks - ones that genuinely work.

Best wishes

Bob

22

@bob You can buy ton easily with Revolut and Wise, try using the P2P market in telegram

23

@bob the biggest problem is finding a UK bank that will allow me to buy crypto.

I read there were already limitations set by some before 2020, and bans last year. I guess online search may give hints. For instance: https://www.businessexpert.co.uk/business-banking/crypto-friendly/

otherwise instead of opening another bank account the advice of @sewer is good: use Wise or Revolut , (yet Revolut IS a bank but explicitely crypto-friendly.)

24

I use SendNow. there is a fee for converting crypto to rubles, but I can get the rubles in my fiance’s account within hours most of the time. I send them crypto through a crypto exchange.

25

@bob Yes it works Bob using Profee, I use daily.

26

@phoebe Hello Phoebe. Do you send from the UK to Russia?

I cannot get that to work. The new update app doesn’t seem to let me send UK to Russia.

Thanks

27

@antoniob Many thanks I suppose I shall have to take a chance and see if my bank is happy or not.

Best wishes

28

@lee19k24 Hi thank you. Can you please explain a bit more.

Are you sending money from the UK to Russia??

Many thanks

29

@bob SendNow is a UK company, I send crypto from the US to them using a crypto exchange, they convert it to rubles and send it to the recipient, in our case to her bank card number.

30

There are two crypto currencies they accept, USDC and USDT. They also accept deposits from a bank, but it takes a little longers, a couple days or so.

31

Many thanks Lee. I worry that if I buy crypto my bank will freeze my account. Do you know of the best way to buy crypto? Thanks again

32

I don’t know the “best” way, but I use the “CoinBase” exchange to buy and then send it to SendNow.

33

Many thanks Lee. I just worry that my bank will freeze my account if I buy crypto.

Best wishes.

34

@Irena Russia to Enact a Ban on Domestic Operations Of Cryptocurrency Exchanges.

Does anybody know about this? Is it likely that cryptocurrency transfers to Russian friends will not work beginning in September? It has been working for us for over 1 year now. My friends will die without it :face_holding_back_tears:

35

Hi friend,
I would not be panic just yet. There are a lot of different information out there. Some said the ban is coming on September 1st and some said it is not a total ban, just added rules and laws https://www.ccn.com/news/crypto/no-crypto-ban-russia-mining-exchange-regulations-anton-gorelkin/
Keep an eye out for P2P market such as bestchange.com or bestchange.ru For now, you can still P2P market to exchange crypto to Rubles. Any future changes, you can see from there

36

@Jeffrey Russia to Enact a Ban on Domestic Operations Of Cryptocurrency Exchanges.

Does anybody know about this?

actually EU wants to implement electronic only €. This of course would be in order to fully track in realtime what people do.
They were vague talks about Russia banning cryto domestically already years ago, but also there’s a test drive of electronic ruble…

As for us, it doesn’t matter, because many exchanges are people living outside Russia and outside EU. They have accounts in Russia, but the crypto operation doesn’t happen in Russia, ie. in ₽, but in another currency. They convert BTC you give then into that 3rd-party currencies, then convert from there to ₽. Their fees are integrated in the % they take for what we see as one conversion BTC->₽.
These days such exchanges are in Singapore, Hong-Kong, Dubai, Georgia, Paraguay, Seychelles, etc. Basically at places out of inquisitive jurisdictions.

By now I fear more EU plans. It may become impossible to do BTC operations outside state-approved domestic trading services that will ban BTC transactions as per recipient. There will be work-arounds but the hunt will also adapt, etc.

37

I’m not so sure that
“Russia to Enact a Ban on Domestic Operations Of Cryptocurrency Exchanges”
means what we think it means at face value. Many of the exchanges that can send to Russia are based in other countries and more than likely will still operate. This is exactly what antoniob is saying.

WARNINGSending crypto to the wrong address or sending the crypto incorrectly can result in a loss of all funds that you will never recover

So to those who are thinking about dabbling in this, here is my best advice:

  1. Send only a small “test” amount the first time, and see if it makes it.
  2. Always “copy and paste” the complete crypto address (or use QR code). Never, never, never try to enter a crypto address manually.
  3. Some types require what is known as “a memo”. If you try to send the crypto and don’t put in the memo, you can lose all your funds.
  4. Sign up for a crypto exchange in whatever country you are from. Become familiar with the methods of how to buy it. Become familiar with the methods of how to “off-load” it.
  5. Find a trusted crypto wallet app and put one on your phone, and practice sending crypto back and forth to yourself until you feel comfortable doing it. All apps, wallets, exchanges, may have their own special nuances.
  6. No kind of list or “directions” on this or any other forum is going to teach a person how to do it. If you want to learn and it’s important to you, read #4 and #5 again.
  7. Just because you found a wallet that supposedly lets you buy crypto, doesn’t necessarily mean that you can go into that app and simply buy crypto with your bank card. Some banks are not “crypto friendly.” In fact, many banks aren’t “crypto friendly.” So when you try to use your debit card through the app, it isn’t uncommon for the transaction to fail. If you try and wire money to an exchange, ask your bank “if they mind” because if they see a lot of money going to a crypto exchange, you may find yourself un-banked in the near future.
  8. Some exchanges have rules on - if and when you can “offload” the crypto that you purchased. Wherever you get your crypto from, if it’s an exchange, find out how long it is required to remain in the exchange before sending it out. You would be surprised at all the different rules…
  9. The information is already out there. For instance I just went to You Tube and put in “How to Send Crypto” and a video from Coinbase popped up along with many other videos.
  10. Best of luck to everyone who is willing to take the deep dive, and learn about crypto. It is truly a miracle in troubled times. I know a little about it, but I don’t necessarily know a lot about it. I may sound snarky but I’m just trying to let everyone know how serious it is and that you can lose your money if you start messing around in this. And it’s not for the faint of heart. Some cryptos take 24 hours or more to arrive (others, about 6 seconds).

I think that I’ve already said enough. Good luck.
Best,
Cal

38

Thank you all for the responses to this thread. They have been very useful. I have been able to learn how to send money to Russia with cryptocurrencies. I have prepared a step by step guide in this article:

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@Irena Very complete guide! Thanks for sharing.

Regarding what I said previously about telegram

And for the telegram P2P I wouldn’t personally recommend buying USDT because the gas fees are a little high, I would better recommend to buy and sell TON, the fees are really low

Now its a lot easier, you can buy and sell USDT without any fee or gas fee, because recently USDT got integrated on the TON blockchain, it was announced not so long ago by Pavel Durov, the CEO of telegram in an crypto conference, I’ve already tested it and I can say its a lot easier than ever, now I strongly recommend buying and selling USDT on TON blockchain, and because it doesn’t charge u any fee the exchange rate is very good, I just checked and its about 92 RUB from a trusted merchant (those who have the verification mark) so I think is pretty well, you must check it out :))

40

@sewer So what happens when you buy this USDT. I am very novice in this trying to learn. How can you get that money into your Russian bank account? What does it cost? How much do you lose with exchanging?