In Russia, the number of hardware wallets for safely storing cryptocurrencies has increased several-fold this spring against the backdrop of currency restrictions introduced in response to foreign sanctions. Media reports revealed that Ledger and Tangem are the most popular products on the market.
Russians buy more hardware crypto wallets, market insiders say Russian crypto users sought to buy up to eight times more hardware wallets in March-April 2022 than in the previous period, daily Vedomosti reported, citing representatives of Tangem wallet developer, retail chain M.video-Eldorado and Ozon marketplace.
Ledger, which sells wallets that resemble USB sticks, and Tangem, which sells products that take advantage of the space on bank cards, are the most popular brands among Russian customers, the article details.
M.video-Eldorado began selling crypto wallets in the fall of 2021. It currently offers single and multi-currency Tangem and Ledger. In 2022, the retailer has observed a significant increase in demand for these devices – sales recorded an 8x annual increase in the first quarter.
Tangem said it has seen a significant increase in demand for its devices since the start of the year, in part due to the company bringing more affordable products to the market. Demand for the M.video-Eldorado peaked in March when it became available, the chain confirmed.
Ozon also credits the surge in demand to a wider range of products: in January, the number of available items increased seven-fold, and in June, stock was six times higher than in January, Bits.media reported. The online marketplace also blames currency restrictions imposed by the Bank of Russia in the wake of Western financial sanctions.
Quoted from Vedomosti, Infoline-analytics CEO Mikhail Burmistrov explained that the surge in wallet sales was also due to the exodus of IT specialists from the Russian Federation: they bought cryptocurrencies and hardware wallets to move their savings abroad, he detailed.
The publication further noted that recent crypto market turmoil, the collapse of the Terra ecosystem, and issues with crypto financial institutions such as Celsius have led to a nearly five-fold increase in global demand for Ledger wallets.