- Sam Bankman-Fried stated that his organization is alert for any suspected usage.
- More than 17 million Russians have invested in cryptocurrencies.
As a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S., Europe, and Japan are all discussing new steps to prevent Russia from using cryptocurrency as a way to avoid sanctions. On Thursday, members of Japan’s crypto business and government officials started debating the possibility of new laws, including a ban on exchanges supporting transactions involving Russians.
They believe that affluent Russians might use cryptocurrency to avoid sanctions on Russia. The United States, Japan, and the European Union have agreed to restrict key Russian banks from using the SWIFT global payment network as part of these penalties. Further investigations to prevent any circumvention of sanctions, including using crypto assets, were agreed upon Tuesday among EU finance ministers.
Global Exchanges on High-alert
An ex-BoJ financial technology center chief and Kyoto University Professor Naoyuki Iwashita says this isn’t the first time cryptocurrencies have been utilized in this manner. During the 2013 Cyprus financial crisis, the government implemented capital restrictions, including a deposit freeze, to avoid bank runs. When the limits were revealed, many rich Russians, for whom the nation had long been a tax haven, are said to have hurried to convert their cash for bitcoins.
Chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried of cryptocurrency exchange FTX stated that his organization is alert for any suspected usage of cryptocurrencies to circumvent sanctions on Monday. More than 17 million Russians, or 12 percent of the population, have invested in cryptocurrencies, according to crypto payments startup TripleA. In December, a lawmaker in Russia’s lower house said that Russian citizens had invested $45 billion in cryptocurrencies, according to Tass, the Russian news agency.
