Experts have warned that Russia will use cryptocurrencies to evade sanctions as governments impose sanctions on Russia, which has invaded Ukraine.
David Carlyle of Elliptic, a provider of cryptocurrency anti-money laundering solutions, warned yesterday that Russia will definitely make efforts to use cryptocurrencies to mitigate the effects of sanctions. did.
U.S., European and Asian crypto exchanges are likely to suspend almost all transactions with Russia, but Russia-based exchanges are still involved in illegal activities, according to Carlyle. Services such as SUEX and Chatex were added to US sanctions last year for trading more than $ 350 million for Russian criminals.
According to Carlyle, the “most attractive option” for energy-rich Russia is the assets that can be cashed or used to pay for imports from the already done cryptocurrency mining in the vast Siberian region. It is to create. Iran is also reported to have used mining revenue to avoid sanctions.
The U.S. Treasury did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment, but one official told Politico yesterday that the Kremlin needed far more than mining could cover. He said the attempt shouldn’t be too much of a concern.
Russia, which has a $ 1.4 trillion banking sector, said on the 28th that it “cannot rely solely on cryptocurrencies” to completely avoid the effects of sanctions, and has launched a large number of cryptocurrencies such as Iran and North Korea. He pointed out that each country that owns it would only own about $ 1 billion. However, he states that he may be a useful tool for businesses and emerging conglomerates called oligarchs.
The U.S. Treasury has long warned of the risk, warning in October last year that neglecting the fraudulent use of cryptocurrencies “may undermine the effectiveness of US sanctions.”
Most cryptocurrencies store transaction history on the public blockchain, allowing them to track fraudulent transactions, which is an obstacle to large-scale sanctions evasion.
Caroline Malcolm, policy director for blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, said in a coin desk article yesterday that “in the past sanctions, certain wallet addresses have been sanctioned.” However, the company said it could set up alerts to quickly confirm problematic transactions. However, there are cryptocurrencies, such as Monero, designed to increase anonymity.
