BestChange Roars Back: Crypto Exchange Aggregator Lifts Russia Restrictions in Major Market Return

Russian crypto traders just got their favorite arbitrage tool back—no thanks to regulators.

BestChange, the exchange-rate aggregator that became a lifeline for dodging spreads, is officially operational in Russia again after a mysterious hiatus. The platform’s return signals a quiet but strategic win for P2P liquidity in a region where financial gatekeepers love to say 'niet.'

Why It Matters

Forget Kremlin-approved exchanges—this is where real price discovery happens. BestChange’s algorithm scours 300+ platforms to find the juiciest rates, turning arbitrage into a bloodsport for savvy traders. Now, with ruble pairs back in play, expect a surge in cross-border flows (and a few gray hairs for central bankers).

The Irony

While traditional finance scrambles to 'de-risk,' crypto’s OGs are rebuilding the rails—with zero permission. The aggregator’s comeback proves what we’ve known since the Mt. Gox days: demand always finds a way. Even if that way involves VPNs and a wink-wink nod to 'local compliance.'

Bottom Line

Another reminder that liquidity doesn’t care about sanctions. As one Moscow-based trader put it: 'The West cuts Swift? We swap USDT.' Game on.

Bank of Russia unblocks BestChange domains

Online crypto exchange aggregator BestChange.ru will once again be available to Russian users, the site’s administrators announced, referring to a letter from the Central Bank of Russia (CBR), quoted by the business news outlet RBC.

The MOVE was recently initiated by the monetary authority’s Information Security Department, a little over three months since the country’s telecom watchdog ordered Russian internet providers to block the website and all its other domains.

The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, also known as Roskomnadzor (RKN), restricted access to the aggregator’s pages in April 2025.

And that wasn’t the first time the platform had been taken down. The media censor had already blocked the crypto service on several occasions – in 2017, 2019 and 2020, respectively. More recently, BestChange was briefly blacklisted by RKN in February of this year.

In all these cases, its lawyers successfully fought and eventually overturned the measure. The CBR letter removing the latest ban was in response to an appeal they filed with the regulator after making some changes to the content visible in Russia to address the bank’s concerns.

BestChange forced to hide content for Russian users

To ensure the full unblocking of the online portal, the platform had to restrict access for Russian users to certain entries that may be flagged by the Bank of Russia as constituting illegal banking activity, explained Nikita Zuborev, senior analyst at BestChange.

The CBR indicated the aggregator should remove information about the purchase and sale of foreign currency with Russian rubles as well as pairs with two foreign payment systems and currencies such as Alipay and bank accounts in other countries’ fiat, like the Kazakhstani tenge, for example.

Zuborev noted that meeting this requirement postponed the unblocking of the website. On Wednesday, the central bank informed BestChange it was satisfied with the redactions in its listings and that it will soon proceed with restoring access to the website.

The platform’s representative told RBC:

“This was associated with a certain delay in the unblocking process, since the requirement was initially not transparent enough, and removing ruble exchange directions on our part was not enough.”

The rest is formality as the Bank of Russia is yet to officially inform Roskomnadzor of its decision and the latter needs to take the aggregator out of its registry of restricted websites that’s referenced by internet providers across the country.

Nikita Zuborev also thanked BestChange.ru’s legal pros for their efforts:

“We are grateful to the lawyers who were able to achieve justice and unblock the site, albeit under such compromise conditions.”

He was positive that the Russian restrictions will not affect information about purchases and sales of cryptocurrencies with rubles and do not apply to users in other jurisdictions, assuring that the site will continue to provide aggregation services globally.

Nevertheless, Russia is now targeting crypto traders as well, through a series of recent legislative amendments that threaten individuals exchanging digital currencies and fiat on a peer-to-peer basis. The measures include blocking transactions and freezing bank accounts.

Amid sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has also been trying to limit operations with hard currency and capital flight. A recent report that travel restrictions on foreign fiat and cash do not apply to cryptocurrencies came as a pleasant surprise for crypto users.

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