IMF Watchful Crypto Mining Could Help Russia Evade Sanctions

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) remains wary of a possible scenario where countries like Russia and Iran may use crypto mining to avoid sanctions. In the global financial stability report by IMF, the monetary institution expressed concerns regarding the risks the digital currency poses to the global financial market.

IMF believes that there’s always a risk with the sanctioned nations who could leverage the energy resources, the ones that cannot be exported, and divert that to energy-intensive crypto mining. IMF has urged global policymakers to ensure security in terms of scrutinizing the regulatory gaps that exist in the industry.

The report has categorically mentioned how Russia could earn revenue through crypto mining in the wake of the Ukrainian invasion.

Regulators in the United States and the United Kingdom, among others, have urged firms in their jurisdictions, including the crypto asset sector, to increase vigilance with regard to potential Russian sanction evasion attempts, mentioned the IMF report.

Related Readings | Russian Finance Ministry Clarifies Rumors Of Crypto Legalization

Crypto Mining Not The Only Way For Russia To Move Money

Russia is among the highest sanctioned countries in the world, it stands above North Korea in this aspect. Apart from crypto mining, the IMF also is of the opinion that Russia could adopt other ways of diverting money outside the nation.

Non-compliant cryptocurrency exchanges are one of the ways by which Russia could push money out of the country, other methods include using DEXs (decentralized exchanges) which are anonymity enhancing platforms also. IMF also mentioned the use of private cryptocurrencies such as Monero (XMR) which makes tracking transactions impossible.

Law enforcement agencies along with financial institutions have focused on digital assets and regulating them further, currencies such as crypto can prove to be profitable in times of economic turmoil. IMF has concluded that cryptocurrency activities are “relatively contained” in sanctioned countries.

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, stated IMF.

Related Reading | Russia To Legalize Crypto Payments, But Proposal Causes Internal Concerns

How Has The Russian Government Reacted To This

As mentioned above, U.K. and U.S. regulators have all asked crypto businesses to be careful and sharp-eyed about the transactions which could occur on the Russian government’s part.

The Russian government, however, 2022 provided some clarity on where the nation stands about cryptocurrency mining.

At the beginning of this year, the Russian Central Bank wanted to propose a law against cryptocurrency mining citing environmental concerns.

There, however, could be a change as the President of Russia has spoken of how cryptocurrency mining can be advantageous for miners. Russia lately has again started to warm up to the technology as Russia recently considered starting accepting cryptocurrencies for the payment of oil and gas.