Moldova: Investigating cases of using cryptocurrency to interfere in the national parliamentary elections, involving an amount of 107 million dollars

According to Decrypt, the National Anti-Corruption Center of Moldova (CNA) has disclosed a plan to influence the country's parliamentary elections in 2025 using cryptocurrency, involving an amount of $107 million.

CNA Director Alexandr Pinzari stated that the plan involved "complex trading operations" through non-custodial cryptocurrency wallets, transferring virtual assets to intermediaries in Moldova, who would then convert them into cash and distribute them to local activists for bribing voters, promoting specific candidates, and mobilizing rally participants. The source of the funds can be traced back to two centralized cryptocurrency platforms in Russia and Kyrgyzstan.

Blockchain analysis firm TRM Labs linked the activity to the "Russia-backed foreign influence operation InfoLider" and confirmed that the Kyrgyzstan cryptocurrency exchange TokenSpot is one of the sources of the transactions. TRM Labs had previously identified TokenSpot as a potential front company for the sanctioned Russian exchange Garantex, both of which are closely related to the "Kremlin-backed sanctions evasion ecosystem."