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Russia's FSB Paid Teen Spies in Bitcoin, Traced Back to $600 Million Wallet
Last Updated: June 16, 2025
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Key Takeaways
- A Canadian teen was recruited by Russia’s FSB and paid $500 in Bitcoin to spy in Europe;
- Blockchain firms traced the payment to a wallet that moved $600 million and operated on Moscow hours;
- The crypto trail pointed to a network possibly run by the FSB, which uses the sanctioned exchange Garantex.
Blockchain analysis companies Global Ledger and Recoveris, working with Reuters, have recently found that Russia’s security agency, the Federal Security Service (FSB), has been using Bitcoin
One case involved Laken Pavan, a Canadian who became involved with pro-Russian groups after being influenced by online content in 2023.
In April 2024, he traveled to Donetsk to join the Interbrigades. The FSB agents reportedly held him for several days, pressured him into working for them, and gave him a contact known only as "Slon", the Russian word for "elephant".
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Pavan left Donetsk and traveled through Istanbul before reaching Copenhagen. It was there that he received a small payment in Bitcoin, worth over $500, from Slon.
On May 22, he arrived in Warsaw and turned himself in to the Polish authorities. He later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 months in prison for helping a foreign intelligence agency.
Though Pavan’s time as a spy was short, Global Ledger and Recoveris discovered that the $500 in Bitcoin had passed through two other wallets before reaching him. Those wallets had received hundreds of thousands of dollars from an address created in June 2022.
This original address, which had transferred roughly $600 million in Bitcoin, showed patterns that matched office hours in Moscow. It had also sent money to Garantex, a crypto exchange under US sanctions. Analysts noted that the wallet is likely tied to a major mining operation that also acts as a storage service.
Although no one has confirmed ownership, Global Ledger and Recoveris suggest it is probably managed by the FSB.
Meanwhile, Thai immigration police detained a Chinese man on June 12 as he attempted to board a Lion Air flight to Singapore. What happened? Read the full story.
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