Crypto: Bitcoin is a Potential Sanctions Buster

#crypto #bitcoin #financial#liberty #freedom #digital #assets #sanctions #Russia #Ukraine #binance

$BTCUSD

"Crypto participants see advancing financial liberty" -- Paul Ebeling

Russia will use crypto as weapons in it move to annex the Ukraine. As digital assets can help Russia to continue trading with the West even as intensifying sanctions choke conventional payments channels.

Sanctions busters will need to use non-compliant platforms. 

Crypto exchanges such as Binance are blocking the accounts of any Russian clients targeted by sanctions, though holding out against Ukrainian requests to freeze all Russian users.

Any business that facilitates prohibited transactions can expect severe repercussions. Last month, the FBI announced it was launching a unit for blockchain analysis and virtual asset seizure. Law enforcement is helped by gaps in the secrecy around cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin users are linked to a public address. But there are anonymity-enhancing services that can help mask the origin of such transactions.

But, if 1 side is for freedom, the other is free to counter!

Given Russian cyber-expertise, it is reasonable to expect they are developing ever more sophisticated techniques. Cryptos may play a more tangential role in Russia’s struggle with the west than as a replacement for correspondent banking.

Cryptocurrencies can play a positive role.

Witness their use by people fighting for freedom in Ukraine and Myanmar. Yet this role is increasingly overshadowed by sanctions-busting potential. Russia, China and Iran are all working on their own sovereign digital currencies. The deployment of financial shock-and-awe tactics against Russia will accelerate those efforts.

Again, if 1 side is for freedom, the other is free to counter!

Have a happy, prosperous day, Keep the Faith!