The United States has imposed a new package of sanctions against 13 fintech companies and two individuals linked to Russia for allegedly developing or offering virtual asset services that were used to circumvent bans, Bloomberg reports, citing data from the US Treasury Department, UNN writes.
Details
"Russia is increasingly turning to alternative payment mechanisms to circumvent U.S. sanctions and continue funding its war against Ukraine," said U.S. Treasury Under Secretary for Combating Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson.
The US Treasury Department "will continue to expose and disrupt companies that seek to help sanctioned Russian financial institutions rejoin the global financial system," Nelson said.
The sanctions were imposed by the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
"The companies named in the Treasury list include Moscow-based fintechs B-Crypto, Masterchain, Atomaiz, Veb3 Tekhnologii and Veb3 Integrator and Cyprus-based Tokentrust, which is also a majority-owner of Atomaiz," the publication writes.
The list also includes "Igor Veniaminovich Kaigorodov, the majority owner of Veb3 Tekhnologii and Veb3 Integrator, and Timur Evgenyevich Bukanov, the owner of TOEP".
Addendum
Cryptocurrencies, which offer an alter native and potentially privacy-preserving means of cross-border payment, surfaced as a vital financial tool for Russians after the country invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the publication notes. As indicated, apps that facilitate cryptocurrency trading have been used by Russian-linked entities to circumvent sanctions.
Before the war began, exchanges linked to Russia and Ukraine accounted for more than half of all international volumes in illicit crypto funds, according to a report published last year by blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs.
In 2022, the year the Ukraine war broke out, the share of crypto activity associated with illicit operations rose for the first time since 2019, according to a report from Chainalysis last year, doubling to 0.24% from 0.12% in 2021.