Tag Archives: russia

The economy in Russia isn’t doing too well. Not long ago, the ruble – the national currency of Russia – experienced a massive drop that saw many people turning to crypto as a means of keeping their wealth stable and steady during this ongoing time of economic strife. In addition, it was suggested that crypto was likely going to be a tool in Russia for avoiding U.S. sanctions. Russia Seeks to Trade Oil for Crypto Thus, it looks like digital assets have become prime...

For the past month or so, many regulators and members of the U.S. government have expressed concern that Vladimir Putin and Russia may be trying to use crypto to avoid recent sanctions. However, at the time of writing, there is no evidence to suggest this is happening. Russia May Not Have Strong Access to Crypto This sentiment comes from Jonathan Levin – co-founder and chief strategy officer at Chainalysis, a blockchain analysis firm – and a panel of alleged experts, who...

Volodymyr Zelenskyy – the president of Ukraine – has legalized cryptocurrency use in his native country. The move stems after Ukraine received countless crypto donations from individuals around the world following Russia’s invasion. At the time of writing, Ukraine has received more than $50 million in digital currency donations. Ukraine Opens Its Heart to Crypto The bill was signed last month by Zelenskyy himself and was then approved by the Ukrainian parliament. The...

Following the launch of Russia’s “special military operation” against Ukraine, which turned out to be an all-out war, NATO, the EU, and other countries decided to take a different approach and impose sanctions against Russia’s leaders and its economy instead of getting directly involved in the conflict. But it wasn’t just governments that went in that direction, as many companies did the same by halting services to Russian-based customers. They received some perhaps...

With the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine, cryptocurrencies have taken a few roles, being sent as donations to aid the attacked nation but also in speculations that Russian oligarchs used such assets to bypass sanctions. However, community insiders continue to refute these allegations, and the latest to do so was FTX’s founder – Sam Bankman-Fried. SBF’s Frustration It’s been almost a month since Russia launched its “special military operation” against its Eastern...

Russia’s central bank granted the country’s largest lender Sberbank a license to issue and exchange digital assets. The latest move opens new avenues for the nation’s economy hammered by western sanctions. The Approval According to the official statement, local companies will be able to issue their own digital assets to lure market investments, purchase digital assets through Sber’s system, or make other such transactions under the new license. The lender also stated that it...

Dominic Williams, the founder of Dfinity Foundation, proposed a way that blockchain and smart contracts can potentially help by getting millions of Russians to watch an entire informational video(s) about the ongoing war. The exec stated that the proposal is made in a personal capacity rather than as an employee of the decentralized blockchain project. The Proposal Even as Russia faces a massive economic meltdown, the shelling in Ukraine has hit residential areas of cities...

Christopher Wray – the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) – says that Russia overestimated its abilities to use crypto to fight sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies. Russia and Crypto May Not Be a Perfect Match Over the past several weeks, many authorities in the U.S. have commented that Russia may try to use crypto to bypass sanctions following its invasion of Ukraine. Members of Congress such as Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts have...

Earlier this week, the President of the Chechen Republic – Ramzan Kadyrov – advised Elon Musk not to measure his strength against Vladimir Putin. Kadyrov went further, ironically calling Tesla’s CEO – Elona (the female version of his name). As it goes with the nature of the crypto community, scammers created over 30 tokens containing the name Elona in just a few days. Pre-History of the Twitter Dispute The world’s richest man – Elon Musk – displayed his support towards...

Elliptic – a blockchain forensics firm – has reportedly given authorities information about a digital wallet that could possibly be linked to sanctioned Russian entities. It apparently stores “significant asset holdings,” amounting to millions of dollars worth of crypto. Caught Using Crypto? In an interview with Bloomberg on Monday, Elliptic co-founder Tom Robinson noted that cryptocurrencies can be used to evade sanctions. This has been a growing concern among officials...