Hiromi Yamaoka: “Sanctions against Russia are pushing other countries to develop state cryptocurrencies”

The former head of payments and settlements at the Bank of Japan, Hiromi Yamaoka, believes that sanctions against Russia may encourage other countries to accelerate the development of state cryptocurrencies.

Hiromi Yamaoka emphasized that the excessive use of economic sanctions can lead to unexpected results. So, many countries can develop measures to circumvent sanctions, including with the help of state cryptocurrencies.

“The most effective and powerful weapon of the West has become the freezing of Russia’s gold and foreign exchange reserves abroad. The United States and allies have deliberately created a situation that brings Russia to the brink of default,” the economist stressed.

Yamaoka noted that the new sanctions against Russia show how political and national goals can affect the financial world. The rapid development of state cryptocurrencies can be one of the measures to combat such restrictions:

“There is a good chance that China will promote the use of the digital yuan for international transactions, and even the creation of its own currency bloc. One of the main topics of discussion around the CBDC will be national security issues.”

At the same time, the former top manager of the Bank of Japan believes that the use of conventional cryptocurrencies to circumvent sanctions is unlikely – this is too risky a way to move large amounts of funds.

Financial consultant and author of Cashless: China’s Digital Currency Revolution, Richard Turrin, has previously expressed a similar point of view. He stressed that in the next ten years, the digital yuan could become the preferred instrument for making international payments.

Source: Bits

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