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Russia’s quest for financial independence through the use of digital assets, cryptocurrencies and digital currencies

30 September 2024 / Author(s): James Ramsden KC , Khrystyna Khanas
Issue: October 2024 / Categories: Feature

The Russian Central Bank and its regulatory bodies, which were historically against all things crypto, took a co-ordinated U-turn shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in Feburary 2022 and the imposition of unprecedented sanctions by the West - because they realised that cryptocurrencies and digital assets can be used the evade sanctions. Having been subject to widespread sanctions for over two years and effectively cut off from the international payment system (SWIFT), and largely shut out of Western's bank and bank accounts, Russia is trying to adjust the "new order" and its international isolation - both economically and financially. It is finding new ways to receive monies from the West for its raw materials and to trade independently of Westen banks  and the US dollar, so that it can transact with both friendly and not so friendly countries on the premise that West cannot  trace those transactions.

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