European money transfer service KoronaPay has banned all cryptocurrency transaction following reports that the Central Bank of Russia has begun looking into the operations of banks in that country with cryptocurrency exchanges.
The Cyprus-based firm, which says it is the largest money transfer service in Russia and the CIS region, announced the ban Tuesday (Feb. 1), saying it had also deployed an anti-fraud tool that uses artificial intelligence to block transactions with crypto exchanges.
“While regulators in some European countries are still relatively relaxed about the explosive growth of crypto, it is increasingly clear that regulators in some of our markets are now pushing back against the rise of digital currencies,” said Gleb Kozlov, CEO at KoronaPay Europe.
“We want to reassure them that we have a zero tolerance policy for crypto related transactions and we will report any suspicious activity to the relevant authorities, as required by AML legislation, including in Europe,” Kozlov said.
Kozlov added that the company is especially worried about the rise of fraudulent exchanges, which can “feature the names and logos of established financial institutions and payment providers on their websites to mislead consumers.”
Read more: Finance Minister: Russia Should Regulate, Not Ban Crypto
According to the Bank of Russia, Russians are among the world’s most enthusiastic crypto users, with transaction volumes of $5 billion per year. The country is also the world’s third largest bitcoin miner.
The Central Bank has proposed a ban on mining and using the digital currencies to pay for goods and services.
However, not every Russian institution has rallied behind the central bank. Last week, Ivan Chebeskov, head of the policy department at Russia’s Ministry of Finance, said country should regulate cryptocurrencies instead of banning them. And Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for the central bank to find a consensus on dealing with the digital currencies.