Crypto Unlikely Helps Russia And Iran

By Saira Munsif Last updated Feb 2, 2023

New Cryptocurrency Unlikely To Help Russia And Iran Evade Sanctions

Table of Contents

Already Underway

s Iranian-made drones struck Ukraine’s capital, Russia and Iran, both chafing from Western sanctions and bound by a mutual enemy in the United States, seeking ways to work more closely together. The New York Times NYT +1.3% reporter Neil MacFarquhar called this burgeoning partnership the “Moscow-Tehran alliance.”

when the embargoed government of Venezuela launched the petro, a cryptocurrency it created to settle oil imports in the face of sanctions, the U.S. prohibited U.S. persons from engaging with the token. Foreign partners had no interest in it, so it fizzled quickly.

In addition, parties paid with such stablecoins will still likely be looking for off-ramps to more usable fiat currencies.

In addition, these large exchanges tend to have robust anti-money laundering controls to include know-your-customer procedures.

But it won’t work well if they try to benefit from the decentralized security of public blockchains,

which are transparent, traceable, and permanent, enabling law enforcement, regulators, and compliance officers to identify attempts at sanctions evasion. Neither option is effective at scale, in terms of liquidity.

While we have seen efforts by China, Iran, and Russia

Cryptocurrencies, with their promise of nearly instant cross-border value transfers, could seem like a solution for increasingly isolated governments.

But it won’t work well if they try to benefit from the decentralized security of public blockchains,

Conklin said in an interview with me back in March 2022. “You can’t flip a switch overnight and run a G20 economy on cryptocurrency.”

So, the question is, can Iran and Russia evade U.S. sanctions by trading in a new stablecoin or other cryptocurrencies?

“This novel proposal to misuse emerging technologies appears as a desperate measure by two brutal, authoritarian regimes to not just evade sanctions, but likely facilitate money laundering and corruption which plague both countries and undermine a transparent global financial system.”

In addition, parties paid with such stablecoins will still likely be looking for off-ramps to more usable fiat currencies. In addition,

these large exchanges tend to have robust anti-money laundering controls to include know-your-customer procedures.

But it won’t work well if they try to benefit from the decentralized security of public blockchains,

While we have seen efforts by China, Iran, and Russia

Cryptocurrencies, with their promise of nearly instant cross-border value transfers, could seem like a solution for increasingly isolated governments.

But it won’t work well if they try to benefit from the decentralized security of public blockchains,

Iranian-made drones struck Ukraine’s capital, Russia and Iran, both chafing from Western sanctions and bound by a mutual enemy in the United States, seeking ways to work more closely together. The New York Times NYT +1.3% reporter Neil MacFarquhar called this burgeoning partnership the “Moscow-Tehran alliance.”

Conklin said in an interview with me back in March 2022. “You can’t flip a switch overnight and run a G20 economy on cryptocurrency.”

In addition, parties paid with such stablecoins will still likely be looking for off-ramps to more usable fiat currencies. In addition, these large exchanges tend to have robust anti-money laundering controls to include know-your-customer procedures.

While we have seen efforts by China, Iran and Russia

Conklin said in an interview with me back in March 2022. “You can’t flip a switch overnight and run a G20 economy on cryptocurrency.”

More Experiments Are Coming

And yet, the Russia-Iran stablecoin project is indeed significant.

o avoid dollar dominance and U.S. sanctions, the Russia-Iran stablecoin project is the first time we have seen this type of coordination between two rogue and isolated governments.

Cryptocurrencies, with their promise of nearly instant cross-border value transfers, could seem like a solution for increasingly isolated governments.

But it won’t work well if they try to benefit from the decentralized security of public blockchains,

s Iranian-made drones struck Ukraine’s capital, Russia and Iran, both chafing from Western sanctions and bound by a mutual enemy in the United States, sought ways to work more closely together. The New York Times NYT +1.3% reporter Neil MacFarquhar called this burgeoning partnership the “Moscow-Tehran alliance.”