The International Monetary Fund (IMF) stated in its report on world financial stability Russia may be planning to utilize cryptocurrency/ Bitcoin mining to avoid economic sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union in the aftermath of the war with Ukraine.
The IMF thinks that Russia could rely on various tools to transfer money away from conventional financial systems. One of the most prominent examples is the use of cryptocurrency exchanges that are not compliant with anonymity-enhancing platforms like DEX and mixers.
Mining cryptocurrency has long been a focus for officials of the IMF and other agencies of law enforcement since this type of activity is profitable when other business activities are under restrictions or bans. Other nations on which sanctions have been placed, that possess bitcoin mining infrastructure are Iran, Venezuela and North Korea.
More Crypto News:
WazirX shifts base to Dubai: Impact of Crypto Tax?
Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC gives crypto mining a miss in earnings call
IMF says, “At this point, the share of mining in countries under sanctions and the overall size of mining revenues suggests that the magnitude of such flows is relatively contained, although risks to financial integrity remain.”
The report added the monthly average of all Bitcoin mining revenues last year was about $1.4 billion, of which Russian miners could have captured close to 11 percent.
Contrary to what IMF exposes about Russia’s potential usage of mining cryptocurrency to avoid sanctions, The Russian Central Bank had informed at the start of 2022 that it was planning to draft a law to ban crypto mining as it could harm the environmental quality.
However, Russian President Putin has suggested the possibility of a change in his mind. He has recently stated that Russia might have a lot of positive benefits to cryptocurrency mining, and the country appears to be taking an increasingly crypto-friendly approach which could include accepting Bitcoin as a payment method for gas and oil exports.