Chris Parker

This is likely one reason why the only way to transfer money to/from the crypto exchanges is via P2P in one form or another.  The rubles never actually leave Russia, they are just transferred between random people within Russia.
 
Russian law is very nuanced. This is a whole different topic. You are right to bring this up as a disclaimer, however, as what the law there actually means, when it is applied, to whom, and what the penalties are can vary from person to person and official to official. Nothing is ever black-and-white or crystal clear, there is always a murkiness. This is why corruption festers throughout the country.
 
Another legal consideration with sending money out Russia that I should mention, is the Russian National Bank has repeatedly issued temporary limits on sending rubles abroad, in order to help maintain the currency's value. Small amounts for personal reasons like I mentioned aren't going to hit that limit, but  something like selling an apartment likely would, if the limitation applies to personal transactions and not just businesses.
 
 

Apartment was retained and is being rented out. Others there have a Power of Attorney to do this and collect the money to send to us.  Eventually apartment will be sold through them as well.
 
Rent and state pension payments are thus the monthly remittances that we are now transferring from Russia to USA. This working via counterparty swap exchanges, either with another local family that we know which occasionally needs to send money the opposite direction, or most recently via the cryptocurrency exchange's P2P marketplace and a wallet transfer on the blockchain.

In my past experience, USCIS likes to disregard the marriage certificate as having any legal meaning until they approve the I-485, so they tend to keep using the premarried name until the time comes to issue the green card.
 
You can get an SSN using the K-1 visa only during the 90 day period of authorized stay hat was granted upon admission.  That's only because the K-1 visa automatically authorizes employment incident to status.  They do this because many states ask for SSN on the marriage license application.
 
If you're still within the 90 days, or you've received the work permit, you can apply for a SSN.  However, I would not follow the earlier advice about saying you're still single (USCIS may later see that and deny your I-485 as a fraudulent marriage), rather I would indicate you are married but want the SSN issued or verified in your primarried name. SSA should be able to do that because a marriage certificate usually only authorizes, but does not require, you to change your name to your married name (i.e. you don't have to use it, but once you do, you can't change it back).  
 
You should get a SSN as soon as possible.  You will probably need it for a variety of things, such health insurance, bank accounts, credit, taxes, employment, etc.

Nothing new from me. Ruble doesn't actually transfer, it's just swapped with other exchangers, be it for crypto or U.S. dollar deposits. 
 
More recently I've been fighting with ways of getting around the ongoing U.S. Mail suspension on even letter deliveries to Russia, but that's off-topic here so please don't reply on that.

See attached trading screenshot from Garantex:
 
 
As you can see, they definitely seem to support USDC, and they even say so on their main home page before login or registration.
 
Also, Coinbase is not the only U.S. cryto exchange with low-cost or free redemption of USDC.  Gemini's fee schedule for Stablecoin (ActiveTrader UI mode only) provides 0.01% Taker Fee and 0.00% Maker fee for the USDT/USD, USDC/USD, and DAI/USD pairs.  Note that USDT is currently not allowed in NY.
 

I'd suggest Dai (DAI) currency instead of Tether (USDT) or USDC if you want to use a token that's pegged to the dollar.  It's the least expensive in terms of fees.  If you don't care about dollar value, BCH (Bitcoin Cash) or LTC (Litecoin) are other options with low transaction fees designed for quick exchange rather than long-term holding.  But be careful that the network used on both ends matches before transferring to another service!
 
Most (or maybe all) of these international exchanges dropped RUB (ruble) as a fiat currency this summer and will not directly process Russian credit cards.  Binance, in particular, has pulled out but also set up a totally different exchange they call "CommEx" for use exclusively in Russia with the ruble currency (it's much more limited in terms of currencies and networks, and it relies almost entirely on P2P listings to get rubles in & out of the exchange).  A better suggestion we're about to try is Garantex (garantex.org), which is now based in Moscow and operating only in Russia due to international sanctions.
 
Don't expect U.S authorities to have anything nice to say about Garantex or Sberbank or using P2P or cryptocurrency in general.  Cryptocurrency is enabling not only bypass of the Russia sanctions but also international fraud, theft, and money laundering.  However, this really isn't the fault of the blacklisted exchange or Russian banks.  Rather it is the government's own fault for refusing to accept that cryptocurrency is foreign money and needs to be regulated as such.  It's also hypocritical, as there's plenty of cryptocurrency fraud available even in the U.S.  For example, Paxful (paxful.com) which is a P2P cryptocurrency exchange based on the U.S. whose user base seems to be like 99% scammers on both the buyer and seller sides (targeting especially new users, or constantly stealing from each other I guess), so be careful using any P2P and always stick with small amounts!
 

I'd suggest Dai (DAI) currency instead of Tether (USDT) or USDC if you want to use a token that's pegged to the dollar.  It's the least expensive in terms of fees.  If you don't care about dollar value, BCH (Bitcoin Cash) or LTC (Litecoin) are other options with low transaction fees designed for quick exchange rather than long-term holding.  But be careful that the network used on both ends matches before transferring to another service!
 
Most (or maybe all) of these international exchanges dropped RUB (ruble) as a fiat currency this summer and will not directly process Russian credit cards.  Binance, in particular, has pulled out but also set up a totally different exchange they call "CommEx" for use exclusively in Russia with the ruble currency (it's much more limited in terms of currencies and networks, and it relies almost entirely on P2P listings to get rubles in & out of the exchange).  A better suggestion we're about to try is Garantex (garantex.org), which is now based in Moscow and operating only in Russia due to international sanctions.
 
Don't expect U.S authorities to have anything nice to say about Garantex or Sberbank or using P2P or cryptocurrency in general.  Cryptocurrency is enabling not only bypass of the Russia sanctions but also international fraud, theft, and money laundering.  However, this really isn't the fault of the blacklisted exchange or Russian banks.  Rather it is the government's own fault for refusing to accept that cryptocurrency is foreign money and needs to be regulated as such.  It's also hypocritical, as there's plenty of cryptocurrency fraud available even in the U.S.  For example, Paxful (paxful.com) which is a P2P cryptocurrency exchange based on the U.S. whose user base seems to be like 99% scammers on both the buyer and seller sides (targeting especially new users, or constantly stealing from each other I guess), so be careful using any P2P and always stick with small amounts!
 

Packet 3 is the "Instruction Package" For standard processing posts (not many of them anymore), this is what the embassy sends out when it receives the petition from NVC. You return package 3 with DS-230 Part II to request your interview be scheduled.
Packet 4 is the "Appointment Package" This is the package that has the interview appointment and the final checklist of what to bring to the interview.
With NVC appointment processing, Packet 3 & 4 are obsolete, as you are really completing packet 3 when you return DS-230 Part I & II to NVC with the original civil documents, and NVC is really sending you packet 4 when the interview appointment is scheduled by them.

Packet 3 is the "Instruction Package" For standard processing posts (not many of them anymore), this is what the embassy sends out when it receives the petition from NVC. You return package 3 with DS-230 Part II to request your interview be scheduled.
Packet 4 is the "Appointment Package" This is the package that has the interview appointment and the final checklist of what to bring to the interview.
With NVC appointment processing, Packet 3 & 4 are obsolete, as you are really completing packet 3 when you return DS-230 Part I & II to NVC with the original civil documents, and NVC is really sending you packet 4 when the interview appointment is scheduled by them.

The identical message above also occurs when an RFE response is received.
It is also important to mention that, since not all immigrants require affidavits of support and it is a rather new (only 10 years) requirement, the IVR has no messages for the generating, receiving, or review complete of the Affidavit of Support. However, it does have a special IVR message when an RFE is generated from Affidavit of Support review:
Affidavit of Support RFE:
"The NVC has reviewed your packet of forms and found information missing or incomplete on your financial information. The NVC sent a checklist letter on ... "

Packet 3 is the "Instruction Package" For standard processing posts (not many of them anymore), this is what the embassy sends out when it receives the petition from NVC. You return package 3 with DS-230 Part II to request your interview be scheduled.
Packet 4 is the "Appointment Package" This is the package that has the interview appointment and the final checklist of what to bring to the interview.
With NVC appointment processing, Packet 3 & 4 are obsolete, as you are really completing packet 3 when you return DS-230 Part I & II to NVC with the original civil documents, and NVC is really sending you packet 4 when the interview appointment is scheduled by them.