Overview

• Poland’s national security chief, Sławomir Cenckiewicz, told the Financial Times that Moscow is probably using cryptocurrencies to bankroll a "shadow fleet" for drone incursions and sabotage across European airspace.
• Cenckiewicz pointed to a 2023 case in which Polish authorities uncovered a GRU-linked network that he said was financed to a high extent with cryptocurrency.
• Polish officials say a pending measure would strengthen digital-asset regulation to close loopholes that could facilitate covert funding and influence operations.
• Independent analyses have documented related patterns, including TRM Labs’ findings on GRU activity funded with Bitcoin in 2016 and Elliptic’s report on Ilan Shor’s A7 network moving large stablecoin flows to influence politics in Moldova.
• The warning follows the Bank of Russia’s decision days earlier to allow select commercial banks to engage with the crypto market.