Powers of the G7 (Germany, Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom) German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on Wednesday that Russians sanctioned for the invasion of Ukraine are studying ways to prevent people and institutions from using bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
“We must take steps to prevent people and institutions on this list from using unregulated cryptocurrencies. We have taken action in this regard within the framework of the German President of the G7,” Lindner said in a statement.
Natalie Johnsonresearcher neoma business school, told rfi Cryptocurrencies may actually represent a way to circumvent sanctions, replacing bank interconnection systems Swift, acronym for World Financial Telecommunications Society, an international banking system that allows the standardization of financial information and the transfer of funds between banks around the world. There is pressure to kick Russian banks out of the system, an attempt to dodge Russia’s economy amid the Ukraine invasion. This Wednesday (2), the European Union (EU) announced the exclusion of seven Russian banks from SWIFT.
“Bitcoin replaces to some extent, Intense, It is an alternative payment system. hey Intense, does not allow payment itself, but issues payment orders. Thus, an order is issued and received. But in reality, bitcoin simplifies this system, as it allows only two people to transact, one directly with the other,” he explains.
“When transactions are made in bitcoin, although they are actually recorded in the so-called open ledger, these transactions take place between accounts that are identified by a series of letters and numbers. Accounts,” says Jensen. “It is true that, for Russia, anyway, using bitcoin is a way to circumvent sanctions. That is correct”, concludes the researcher.
*With AFP and RFI
