Russia’s FSB plans to integrate SORM into crypto exchanges and iGaming platforms

Russian security services want crypto exchanges and iGaming services to install SORM equipment, which would give them automated, round-the-clock access to traffic and user data in real time. For PSPs and operators, the practical issue is simple: if this goes through, Russia stops looking like a market where privacy is a feature and starts looking like one where monitoring is part of the stack.

1. Under the proposal, SORM would automatically match IP addresses, usernames, social media profiles, and payment information. That is a much deeper setup than one-off disclosures on request: the system is designed for direct, hardware-level integration into exchange infrastructure.
2. The article says this is an escalation from discussions in 2022, when the focus was only on handing over data in response to individual requests. Now the conversation is about embedding surveillance equipment directly into the platforms themselves.
3. The timing matters because licensed crypto platforms in Russia have recently come under a new crypto law. In practice, that means legal operation in Russia would come with tight monitoring and no meaningful user privacy for the operator to promise.
4. iGaming platforms are being treated alongside crypto exchanges and social networks as potential channels for prohibited content. For high-risk businesses, that is a useful signal: once a regulator starts grouping these verticals together, compliance expectations tend to travel as a pack.
5. The text also points to user migration toward P2P and offshore platforms outside Russian jurisdiction. For PSPs, that usually means two things at once: tighter control on local licensed flows and more volume slipping into less transparent channels.

The main takeaway for payment providers is not subtle. If SORM becomes part of the operating environment for crypto and iGaming in Russia, the compliance burden moves beyond KYC and transaction monitoring into direct state access to platform traffic and customer data.