EU And US Double Down Against Russia For Using Crypto To Bypass Sanctions

The EU and the US double down against Russia for using crypto to avoid sanctions because using it to avoid sanctions is a criminal offense according to the UK Regulators so let’s read furhter in today’s latest cryptocurrency news.

The EU and US regulators double down on measures to take against Russia if it tries to use crypto to bypass the sanctions. They both announced new actions targeting Russia’s economy and its wealthy individuals as reports of Vladimir Putin’s attempts to avoid sanctions using crypto emerged. In a Friday announcement, the White House said the leadership from the US, France, Canada, Germany, Japan, Italy, and EU will take even more measures aimed at isolating Russia in response to Putin’s military invasion of Ukraine and the announcement included banning imports of Russian goods, banning the export of luxury goods to Russia and the guidance of the US treasury to monitor the country’s attempts to evade sanctions. The white house said:

“Treasury’s expansive actions against Russia require all U.S. persons to comply with sanctions regulations regardless of whether a transaction is denominated in traditional fiat currency or virtual currency. Treasury is closely monitoring any efforts to circumvent or violate Russia-related sanctions, including through the use of virtual currency, and is committed to using its broad enforcement authorities to act against violations and to promote compliance.”

Had a substantive conversation with @POTUS. Gave him the assessment of the situation on the battlefield, informed about the crimes of Russia against the civilian population. We agreed on further steps to support the defense of Ukraine and increase sanctions against Russia.

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 11, 2022

The US’ policy is a part of a coordinated effort with the EU and the G7 nations to ramp up pressure on Putin and impose even more financial restrictions on Russia. The EU also said that its member states agreed to amend regulation with the goal of ensuring more than Russian sanctions can’t be avoided including via Belarus, mentioning the possible use of crypto assets.

We will:

1. Deny Russia the status of Most-Favored Nation in our markets, revoking important WTO benefits.⁰

We’ll also work to suspend its membership rights in multilateral financial institutions like the IMF & World Bank – so no more loans or benefits from these institutions.

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) March 11, 2022

The EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the officials will introduce the measures against Russia but many of the EU members haven’t said they will impose restrictions on Russia-produced oil and gas like US President Joe Biden announced. Von der Leyen said there will be a big ban on EU investments across Russia’s energy sector.

Today, the entire democratic world has united against Russia to punish the bloody invaders economically. I call on @tether_to @paoloardoino to stop any transactions with the Russians! For peace!

— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) March 11, 2022

The regulatory agencies and government departments in many countries enacting such economic measures against Russia warned individuals and businesses that deal with crypto of possible enforcement actions. The US DOJ Will also be forming a new task force aimed at freezing or seizing the crypto holdings of wealthy Russian individuals but also investing in the banks and crypto companies to help entities under sanctions for money laundering. In the US, the FCA also issued a joint statement warning crypto companies to play their part in ensuring that sanctions be complied with. The UK regulators said:

“Financial sanctions regulations do not differentiate between crypto assets and other forms of assets. The use of crypto assets to circumvent economic sanctions is a criminal offense.”