Every day, the media teaches us how different countries can take legal action to embrace cryptocurrency. However, in this respect, not all humanity is moving in the same direction. On July 14, 2025, Hungary introduced the law to turn “fraudulent crypto transactions” into crimes that will be punished several years later. Several other governments are busy narrowing down legal space for codes.
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News from Hungary
Hungarian attacks on crypto are said to be “sudden” and generally do not fit Europe’s overall approach to crypto regulations. The government has banned trading on unlicensed platforms. Violators are in prison for up to several years, depending on the amount involved in the illegal transaction.
Providing unauthorized crypto trading services has become another punishable violation. Several huge crypto platforms had to stop services in Hungary due to the law, and millions of users have sought alternatives.
What’s even worse, some people fear that past transactions could be a reason for prosecution, so it may turn out that crypto traders are not secure in Hungary. With Hungarian financial supervisors still working on compliance guides, it is difficult to know who will fall victim to the new law.
Ambiguous signal from Russia
Until 2020, cryptocurrency had no legal status in Russia. They were considered “money proxy” and were banned in that way. In 2022, Russia began working on moderate crypto regulation. However, ciphers are generally located in a grey zone where many crypto-themed media and crypto markets are blocked. Under the conditions of sanctions pressure, President Vladimir Putin encouraged Russian companies to use cryptocurrencies to trade with foreign partners.
Russia is one of the top Bitcoin miners of all countries. The government does not curb mining, but the sector finds itself under attack from Western countries as mining is believed to be closely intertwined with national elites. The new national registration of mining equipment is intended to enhance control of the mining sector.
read more: Russia launches national crypto mining registration to crack down on illegal operations
Some Russian oligarchs chose Bitcoin mining early on. For example, aluminum tycoon Oleg Deripasca refitted one of its Siberian factories into a massive mining facility in 2019. Bit River is an approved mining business. Sanctions caused the closure of Russian Crypto-Exchange Galantex.
In 2025, the Bank of Russia introduced a law that allowed for the exchange of crypto with “qualified traders” and restricted it for the rest of the Russians. If the bill was adopted in this form, it would seriously limit the scope of legal action with encryption for most citizens. The launch of the digital ruble test, planned for 2025, has been postponed.
read more: Russia accepts cryptography, but the Kremlin’s goal remains ambiguous
China rethinks its harsh stance on Crypto
China was one of the leading countries in terms of bitcoin mining and various crypto businesses, but after a series of restrictive legal measures, the country has become one of the world’s most crypto-friendly jurisdictions. First, it banned financial companies from trading crypto holdings and cryptocurrencies, and ultimately prohibited them from promoting or creating cryptocurrency transactions of any kind. The following year, China banned Bitcoin mining in 2017, and ultimately a complete ban on cryptocurrency and mining was enacted in 2021. Each of these restrictions forced them to transfer to corporate-friendly jurisdiction.
Only in the summer of 2025 was unofficial information leaked to the media about the possibility of code decompression in China. The authorities reportedly decided that amid growing popularity of stubcoins, they should be more sensitive to the latest financial technology. Still, China continues to work on digital yuan.
Turkish Crypto War intensifies in 2025
Cryptocurrency began to gain popularity after a dramatic decline in the value of Turkish lira. The move was not noticed by the government. The Türkiye Central Bank responded to a ban on crypto in 2021.
However, opposition to Turkish codes does not stop here. The government is trying to prevent the money from leaking through code. In June 2025, it became known that Turkey’s Ministry of Finance and Treasury were working on new regulations aimed at increasing control of crypto transactions. Users must provide a textual description for each cryptographic transaction’s purpose, and cryptographic platforms are forced to make a 48-72 hour delay when someone withdraws money. Stablecoins usage is limited to $50,000 per month or $3,000 per day. In addition to this, Turkish financial regulators have banned decentralized exchanges like Pancakeswap.
read more: Turkey implements stricter control of crypto transactions to prevent money laundering
Strict bans and enforcement in Nepal
Nepal banned ciphers completely in 2018. More than 50 people have been arrested due to enforcement action against P2P Traders 2022-2025. The ban offenders faced a variety of punishments ranging from fines to prison time.
The government is keeping an eye on banks and crypto services, aiming to prevent crypto-related activities. Despite strict laws and enforcement, Nepal residents continue to use codes at their own risk.
Changes in power in Afghanistan resulted in a complete ban on code
Nevertheless, in the 2020s, we saw many governments trying to remove their country’s codes. When the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2022, it banned codes as a form of fraudulent money.
Before 2022, Afghanistan was a relatively cryptography-savvy country, according to Chain Melting. The change has shut down 20 local businesses working with cryptocurrency.
Conclusion
More countries banned cryptography in 2018. The timing is clear. In January 2018, the price crashed with the masses who learned about Bitcoin in 2017. The Altcoin market quickly attracted attention. The ICO bubble has burst and there is nothing left for many inexperienced investors. The 2018 cryptography ban may be seen as a quick yet superficial international response to these events. However, some countries have rethinked their approach and chose to investigate ciphers and apply risk management mechanisms rather than banning all ciphers at once.
Still, in many countries, Crypto is not legalized on this date. It’s worth saying that even these places, people continue to use cryptography despite moderate and strict restrictions. Makes the discussion of cryptography skeptics about the lack of cases of cryptography use look shallow.
You might like it too: Morocco approaches cryptography after 2017 ban
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