Russia Economy: Crypto-Powered Trade Being Used to Bypass Sanctions
Russia has quietly developed a crypto-fueled network of payments systems that’s helped it evade Western sanctions over its war in Ukraine.
That assessment comes from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, which said it believes Russia had created a “shadow crypto economy” in the years following its invasion of Ukraine in order to sidestep financial punishment by the US and its allies.
The report highlighted one crypto token in particular tied to Russian businesses trying to trade under the radar. The coin, called A7A5, has been used to process over $51.1 billion worth of transactions from the time it was issued through the end of July, per Chainalysis data.
The crypto, which is backed by the Russian ruble,…
