US asks crypto exchanges to comply with Russian sanctions: report

The U.S. is asking crypto exchanges around the world to prevent Russia from skirting sanctions imposed after it invaded Ukraine last week, Bloomberg reported.

Fast facts

• The Biden administration is concerned that cryptocurrencies can be used to evade heavily regulated traditional financial systems.

• The final version of Biden’s 2021 executive order that specifically prohibits “deceptive or structured transactions or dealings to circumvent any United States sanctions, including through the use of digital currencies or assets or the use of physical assets,” was published Monday by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and goes into effect March 1.

• U.S. crypto exchanges and any exchanges doing business in the U.S. were already required to comply with the sanctions, according to Alma Angotti, partner and global legislative and regulatory risk leader for global consulting firm Guidehouse.
• The emphasis on crypto exchanges could be “marketing,” Angotti said, a way for the U.S. to be “very specific to let sanctioned parties know they are looking for this.”