Efforts by the West to punish Russia using an array of sanctions are being undermined as Russian companies increasingly use Bitcoin to evade penalties.
In December, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov acknowledged Russian firms were already using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for international trade following a bill signed into law by President Vladimir Putin. The law, signed last year, regulates the ownership and mining of cryptocurrencies, while maintaining a ban on their domestic use.
Putin’s war with Ukraine resulted in Russian banks being blocked from the SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) payment platform, effectively halting their ability to finance international trade and process cross-border payments. The sanctions dealt a heavy blow to Russia’s economy and made international banks wary of handling Russian origin payments, fearful that they may be in breach of sanctions.
Putin…
