Ukraine is set to take action against Russia’s use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in foreign trade, with sanctions currently in the pipeline.
Just a day after Russia’s finance minister, Anton Siluanov, publicly acknowledged that Russian companies are already using crypto to dodge Western sanctions, the Ukrainian government has revealed plans to impose “sanctions and other solutions” to block Russia’s use of Bitcoin for international payments.
According to Ukrainska Pravda, Vladyslav Vlasiuk, an advisor to the Ukrainian president, stated that Ukraine alerted its international partners to Russia’s intentions earlier this year. Measures to prevent unwanted crypto payments are now under development.
Vlasiuk said, “Are we at all surprised? No, we were, without exaggeration, the first to draw our partners’ attention to such plans of the enemy back in the summer. Appropriate sanctions and other solutions to block the possibility of using unwanted cryptocurrency payments are already being prepared.”
Russia has been seeking ways to bypass sanctions that have hindered its ability to conduct international payments, even with countries like China. As previously reported by crypto.news, Russian companies have resorted to using stablecoins such as Tether for cross-border transactions.
Some of Russia’s major metal producers have begun using stablecoins in trade with Chinese clients, although the volume of these trades remains unclear. Sources have indicated that other alternatives are much slower or carry the risk of having an overseas bank account frozen.
Siluanov’s admission follows the Kremlin’s establishment of a legal framework for Bitcoin miners just a few months ago. This framework includes a provision enabling approved companies to use crypto for international trade.
Related topics:
