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Sanctions on Russia include crypto, and here’s a look at the legal framework that supports them.
Cryptocurrency donations to help Ukraine
Since bombs started raining and bullets started flying on Feb. 24, approximately 4 million Ukrainians have fled their homes, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, popularly known as the UN Refugee Agency. The majority of them have fled to neighboring Central European countries.
At the same time, according to Alex Bornyakov, deputy minister of digital transformation, people all around the world have sent over $100 million in cryptocurrency donations to help Ukraine. As a result, on March 16, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a measure legalizing cryptocurrency.
Robby Houben, a professor at the University of Antwerp who co-authored a study for the European Parliament on the illicit use of cryptocurrencies and blockchain, On March 1, “Crypto-assets as a blind spot in sanctions against Russia?”
On March 4, after the Swiss government took the lead, Russia was hit with a wave of synchronized penalties that included crypto. Singapore followed suit on March 5. The European Union arrived on March 9th. On March 11, the G7 countries — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States — imposed penalties”to hold Putin responsible for his continued aggression Russia will be more isolated from the global financial system as a result of its actions against Ukraine.”
Given that many of the nations that imposed these penalties are still considering crypto regulation, I wondered if their legal architecture would allow for their execution in the case of cryptocurrency.
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Talk about Switzerland
The first country to impose sanctions against Russia was Switzerland. On the same day, a Swiss member of parliament filed a criminal complaint against Credit Suisse for possible sanctions violations related to the destruction of Russian oligarchs’ loan paperwork when they began shifting their billions in crypto assets from Switzerland to the UAE. On March 9, the United Arab Emirates passed its first national cryptocurrency law.
Talk about Singapore
Singapore, through the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), became the first Asian government to impose unilateral sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, including on cryptocurrency transactions. The penalties were detailed on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website.
Andrew is a blockchain developer who developed his interest in cryptocurrencies while pursuing his post-graduation major in blockchain development. He is a keen observer of details and shares his passion for writing, along with coding. His backend knowledge about blockchain helps him give a unique perspective to his writing skills, and a reliable craft at explaining the concepts such as blockchain programming, languages and token minting. He also frequently shares technical details and performance indicators of ICOs and IDOs.
