Anna Baydakova

Anna writes about blockchain projects and regulation with a special focus on Eastern Europe and Russia. She is especially excited about stories on privacy, cybercrime, sanctions policies and censorship resistance of decentralized technologies.
She graduated from the Saint Petersburg State University and the Higher School of Economics in Russia and got her Master's degree at Columbia Journalism School in New York City.
She joined CoinDesk after years of writing for various Russian media, including the leading political outlet Novaya Gazeta.
Anna owns BTC and an NFT of sentimental value.

Anna Baydakova

Latest from Anna Baydakova


Policy

Digital Ruble Can Help Track Government Spending, Bank of Russia Says

The Bank of Russia proposed a potential CBDC project Tuesday, but wants public comments before proceeding.

Bank of Russia

Tech

Belarus News Media Are Testing Decentralized Tech to Resist Censorship

Belarus media are testing NewNode, a decentralized tech helping resist the government censorship.

Belarusian citizens have been protesting for weeks, following the controversial reelection of President Alexander Lukashenko.

Policy

Russian Web Censor Tells Binance It's Been Blacklisted – Three Months Late

Roskomnadzor blacklisted Binance in June, but apparently only made the cryptocurrency exchange aware of its decision today.

Internet censorship

Markets

CoinDesk Reporters Discuss FinCEN Files, Venezuela's Stablecoin Flop and More

From the CoinDesk Global Macro news desk, this is Borderless - a twice-monthly roundup of the most important stories impacting Bitcoin and the crypto sector from around the world.

Venezuelan Bolivars and U.S. dollars.

Policy

Russian Ministry Wants Citizens to Report Their Crypto Wallet Details: Report

The Ministry of Finance is seeking amendments to the law that would force cryptocurrency users to report wallet balances and large transactions to the tax authorities.

Russian Ministry of Finance, Moscow

Markets

Eastern Europe Actively Using Crypto for Illicit Purposes: Chainalysis

A significant amount of cryptocurrency activities in the Eastern Europe is related to the dark market and ransomware, according to a Chainalysis report.

hacker

Policy

Belarus Nonprofit Helps Protestors With Bitcoin Grants

A non-profit by tech entrepreneurs in Belarus is using Bitcoin to help dissidents get around repression and financial monitoring.

Protest rally in Belarus, 2020 / Natallia Rak via Flickr

Markets

Ukraine Leads Global Crypto Adoption, Chainalysis Says in New Report

Ukraine, Russia and Venezuela are the top three countries by crypto adoption in the world, according to Chainalysis.

Map of Eastern European countries