Russians began to visit crypto exchanges more often amid the growth of bitcoin rate

Russians started visiting cryptocurrency-related websites more frequently amid the growth of bitcoin and other popular digital currencies. Internet traffic on the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the first weeks of November increased by 8% compared to early October. This was reported in "Megafon" with reference to the data of its own research.

The largest increase was demonstrated by the exchange Deribit (+126%), followed by HTX (+24%), and closing the top three KuCoin (+23%). Binance, Bybit and MEXC led the monthly traffic in terms of total megabytes spent - 45%, 25% and 8% respectively.

The traffic growth of Russian crypto market participants is in line with the global trend.

Some exchanges lost ground: for example, China's Gate.io fell by 26%, while Upbit and Kraken fell by 6% and 4%. In addition, following Russians' disappointment with the Hamster Kombat (HMSTR) currency released on September 26, crypto exchange EBI Exchange lost more than 80% of its traffic in October and continued to fall at the same pace in November.

The overall growth of traffic on the platforms is explained by the rise in the price of major cryptocurrencies - primarily bitcoin, which occupies about 60% of the trading volume. Its rate on the global market began to grow (+45%). Key for the price of the currency were the US presidential election. The growth was accompanied by an inflow of capital into U.S. exchange-traded funds that allow trading in cryptocurrencies in the form of shares.

Other major cryptocurrencies also rose in price. Ethereum in November crossed the mark of $3 thousand per coin and rose in price by 40% over the month, Solana increased in value by almost 60%, and the token XRP tripled in value.

A possible role in increasing interest in digital currencies among Russians played not only world news, but also changes in legislation in the Russian Federation in terms of regulation of this market, experts say. On November 1, 2024, the law on legalization of cryptocurrency mining activities came into force in the country. The document consolidated the basic concepts, as well as streamlined certain actions with cryptocurrencies.