Here’s How Russians Dodge Sanctions to Use Int’l Crypto Exchanges Russian crypto holders have reportedly used simple workarounds to evade sanctions – and trade on overseas crypto exchanges. In the wake of the war in Ukraine, Western leaders have imposed sanctions on most leading Russian banks. Account holders at these banks, thus, are effectively blocked from using fiat on/off ramps at major international crypto exchanges. Platforms automatically block transactions that make mention of the Russ...

Russian Trade Ministry ‘Develops Tool That Lets Crypto Miners Evade Sanctions’ Russia’s trade ministry says it has developed a tool that can help crypto miners evade Western sanctions. In a DumaTV post on the RuTube video-sharing platform, lawmakers explained that the Ministry of Industry and Trade had “developed a tool for conducting industrial mining activities.” The tool, they said would “help [Russian] businesses make cross-border payments.” The video featured an interview with Anton Tkachev...

Russian Banks ‘Fighting Back’ Against Digital Ruble – Report Russian banks are reportedly “fighting back” against the digital ruble amid claims a CBDC launch would cost them $684 million a year. Per a report from Comnews, even the Central Bank’s commercial bank partners are “looking for ways” to “avoid” dealing with the coin and “preserve” the banking status quo. The report pointed to a development from VTB Bank, which this month announced a new solution that lets CBDC owners convert their token...

Russians Will Be Able to ‘Withdraw’ Digital Rubles as Cash at ATMs A major Russian bank has created a solution that lets digital ruble holders perform real-time “withdrawal”-type cash conversions at ATMs. Per Izvestia, VTB Bank has developed a solution that lets CBDC holders instantly convert their digital rubles to banknotes at any of the bank’s 14,000 ATMS “throughout Russia.” The bank presented its new CBDC solution at the recent Finopolis 2023 fintech forum. VTB said the service would initia...

Number of Russian Crypto Transactions ‘Has Tripled in 2023,’ Says Kremlin The Kremlin believes the number of crypto transactions conducted in Russia has risen by three times in 2023, with transfer volumes “doubling.” The claims were made by Yuri Chikhanchin, the head of Rosfinmonitoring, in an interview with the Russian media outlet Izvestia. Formally known as the Federal Financial Monitoring Service, Rosfinmonitoring is a Kremlin-run agency that combats money laundering and terrorism funding in...

Russian Politicians Want to Ban Private Citizens from Mining Crypto A senior Russian politician has claimed that lawmakers want to bar private citizens from mining crypto – but will allow industrial miners to operate. The comments came from Anton Tkachev, the Deputy Head of the State Duma’s Committee on Information Policy, Information Technologies, and Communications, in an interview with the Parliamentary Gazette. Tkachev said: “Everything is pointing to the fact that mining will be legalized,...

Russia’s FSB Charges Man with ‘High Treason’ for ‘Donating Crypto to Ukraine’ The Russian FSB, the nation’s intelligence service, has charged a man suspected of donating crypto to Ukraine’s military with high treason. The man, named Alexander Vechirko (54), was arrested by the FSB (Federal Security Service) in June this year – and, following a several months-long investigation, has now been formally charged with “high treason.” In April this year, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree raising...