Against the backdrop of increased tensions in Eastern Europe, The New York Times experts expressed the opinion that without Russia’s digital assets, it would be impossible to survive the US sanctions pressure.
Analysts of the publication saw in Russia’s movement towards the legalization of cryptocurrencies the creation of financial instruments to circumvent American and European sanctions:
“When the United States banned Americans from doing business with Russian banks, oil and gas and other companies in 2014 after the invasion of Crimea, the blow to the Russian economy was swift and devastating. According to economists, the sanctions imposed by Western countries cost Russia $50 billion annually. Since then, the global market for cryptocurrencies and other digital assets has exploded. This is bad news for the security forces and good news for Russia.”
The host of the Orange Pill Bitcoin podcast told reporters that bitcoin could become one of the most important issues in the confrontation between Russia and the United States:
“Sanctions will inevitably be met by bitcoins and this fact is neither positive nor negative, but investors in cryptocurrencies need to be careful.”
Former U.S. Attorney Michael Parker, who now leads the anti-money laundering and sanctions team at Ferrari & Associates, a Washington-based law firm, says Russian companies have long been preparing to ease the effects of sanctions. Parker believes that this is why Russian legal entities entered into transactions with all cryptocurrency companies willing to work:
“Russia has had a lot of time to think about the consequences. It would be naive to think that they did not play out exactly this scenario.
The expert added that now these organizations will be able to use cryptocurrencies to bypass the checkpoints of international transactions that are monitored by US authorities. In his opinion, these are money transfers by banks that can be blocked to prevent the execution of the transaction.
Last year, Bloomberg “revealed the veil of secrecy” by naming one of the buildings of the International Business Center “Federation Tower Vostok” one of the world’s largest centers for cashing out cryptocurrencies. Following statements by the US authorities about the “Russian trace” in cyber attacks on American business, the cybersecurity company Recorded Future stated that some of the extortionists’ money passes through Moscow City. According to information security company ESET, Russia leads in the number of cryptocurrency crimes in the world.
Source: Bits
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