The official said on CoinDesk TV’s “First Mover” that Russia likely isn’t benefitting from crypto, but could see increased use amid sanctions,

Amid an ongoing war, a Ukrainian official reiterated his demand that crypto businesses cut services to Russian users as part of an unprecedented effort to block Russia from the global financial system.

Alex Bornyakov, Ukraine’s deputy minister at the Ministry of Digital Transformation, said crypto is just a marginal part of the Russian economy now – and likely not a tool for evading sanctions – but could grow more important as the economic blockade continues.

“It’s not their main option,” Bornyakov said on CoinDesk TV’s “First Mover.” Still, “with the sanctions being imposed, crypto will take more and more popularity,” he said.

Ukraine has seen a flurry of crypto donations – over $80 million at press time – since the invasion began two weeks ago. These funds are reportedly being spent on non-lethal equipment, including fuel, food and bulletproof vests for soldiers.

“Crypto became even more convenient than the banking system,” Bornyakov said.

As CoinDesk has reported, Ukrainian-based crypto exchange Kuna is primarily handling these crypto-charitable efforts on behalf of the country’s government. But it’s hardly Ukraine’s first exposure to the blockchain industry.

Last year, the Ukrainian government launched concerted efforts to attract a local crypto industry that was part of a push to further digitize the economy. In September, the Parliament passed a law legalizing and regulating bitcoin. The country has low taxes, crypto-friendly regulations and a highly educated and young workforce.

Russia, by comparison, has made strong attempts to minimize crypto use in the country. Its central bank has called for a ban on crypto trading outright, though the Ministry of Finance has published a roadmap for regulating it.

Despite this aggressive regulatory stance, crypto has found a foothold in the country. Russia is home to a large domestic crypto mining industry and sees some of the highest transaction volumes in the world, according to analytics firm Chainalysis.

Bornyakov said that eight official letters were sent to crypto exchanges asking them to block, freeze or cancel operations for Russian users altogether. So far, major crypto exchanges have been hesitant to do so.

Binance, Coinbase and Kraken, for instance, have all said they would blacklist specific companies and oligarchs targeted by Western sanctions but would not cut off services to the entire country unless ordered to do so.

“If we see crypto being used to avoid sanctions, this will put more pressure on crypto exchanges to geoblock Russia,” Bornyakov said. But “we don’t think it’s a major issue right now,” he added.

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The founder of the Kuna crypto exchange behind the government’s crypto fundraising said on CoinDesk TV that the money is being spent “efficiently.”

Of the $26 million in crypto the Ukrainian government has raised amid the Russian invasion, at least $14 million has already been disbursed, according to Michael Chobanian, founder of Kiev-based crypto exchange Kuna, who has been a central figure in the fundraising effort. Crypto, he said on CoinDesk TV’s “First Mover,” has been a huge boon to the nation’s military and civilians.

That might go a long way in assuaging fears about crypto’s place in the war. Authorities across the globe are worried that non-state monetary networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum could enable Russia to evade economic sanction, while others think decentralized networks could help to raise funds quickly for a besieged nation.

“I want to use this opportunity to thank all the crypto guys who already helped us,” Chobanian said.

Transactions on most cryptocurrency networks are publicly viewable – one of the guarantees and essential attributes of the underlying blockchain technology. But that doesn’t always mean it’s clear how the funds are being used.

Ukraine, the second-poorest country in Europe based on gross national income per capita, has a long history of corruption. Some people are concerned that donations made in crypto, although traceable, may not benefit the intended recipients.

“We’re doing it really efficiently,” Chobanian added. “The majority of spending is actually done in crypto.” He said he gives regular updates on where donations come from and go to every three hours on Twitter.

Chobanian has helped set up two charitable funds to aid Ukraine’s war effort and war-affected population, he said. The Crypto Fund of Ukraine, spun up two days ago, has primarily been used to buy food, gas, medical supplies and firearms for civilians and to help evacuate people, he said.

The second wallet, which is being coordinated by the Ministry of Digital Transformation, is funding the army. Chobanian’s exchange platform is assisting the government in converting crypto to fiat money, as “the government doesn’t know how to properly manage the crypto,” he said.

That said, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry is deciding on where donated crypto funds are going, CoinDesk previously reported.

Several high-profile crypto entrepreneurs have made big monetary contributions, including Polkadot and Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood, Tron founder Justin Sun and Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin, who was born in Russia and has spoken out against the war.

However, most of the funds made in lesser-known cryptocurrencies like DOT and tron are being converted into bitcoin and ether through the Kuna exchange, which has become central to these charitable efforts. “That’s the preferred method for most,” Chobanian said.

Kuna is working to ensure incoming donations are “clean,” and blacklisting suspicious transactions. “If it comes from the dark web, there is not much I can do with it later,” Chobanian said.

The crypto is then sent to cold storage, and guarded using a multisig, a type of wallet that involves multiple parties.

Last week, Chobanian told “First Mover” hosts the exchange was having difficulty meeting surging demand for the U.S. dollar-denominated cryptocurrency tether, or USDT. Wealthy clients had adopted the so-called stablecoin as a “safe haven,” he said. He gave that interview from his car.

Indeed, the invasion has severely affected Ukrainians. Speaking personally, Chobanian said his life has been upturned.

“You could look at whatever I’m wearing. This is pretty much all I have left,” he said. “I have two cars left. And I have my crypto. That’s pretty much it.”

Everyday Russian civilians have also been affected by the war. In response to Russian aggression, Western powers have levied strict financial sanctions on the country – including taking the unprecedented step to cut major financial institutions to the international SWIFT payments network.

The ruble has since cratered, and there’s evidence of many ATMs running out of cash. Now, there are calls for crypto exchanges, a small part of the global financial system, to block Russian users. Many have already frozen accounts thought to be associated with Russia oligarchs, as part of Western sanctions.

Ukraine Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov, for instance, has asked that all major crypto exchanges block addresses of Russian users.

Kuna, alongside other cryptocurrency exchanges, has blocked the trading in digital rubles. But Chobanian sees blocking crypto from the Russian population as a bad idea.

“Being a crypto anarchist, I strongly oppose that,” he said. “Being Ukrainian who’s homeland is being bombed right now, it’s devastating. I have to balance between the rational and 

“Being a crypto anarchist, I strongly oppose that,” he said. “Being Ukrainian who’s homeland is being bombed right now, it’s devastating. I have to balance between the rational and the emotional.”

That said, he does support freezing accounts tied to government officials. Further, due to unclear regulations, U.S. users are barred from his platform.

Does that mitigate the purpose of open, apolitical financial networks?

Pragmatically speaking, crypto has worked to fill a gap – like in quickly raising funds for Ukrainians. And it works because it’s fast, and in some respects, better than the alternative. “If you want to send money to Ukraine, to any government body, you have to do it via SWIFT, and SWIFT takes time. It’s not instant,” he said.

Additionally, crypto’s success is tied to accessibility. “There is no one to ask whether you can send your money or not,” Chobanian said about having to navigate the banking system, especially when larger sums of money are involved.

“If you own your own keys, you’re in charge.”

The post At Least $14M Out of $26M in Donated Crypto to Ukraine Already Disbursed appeared first on Crypto Insider.

Ukraine also promised a reward for the information, but the exact amount will depend on how much is used for the military resistance.

Ukraine has received tons of crypto wallets addresses related to russian politicians after mounting an effort to survey such wallets, Artem Afian, the private lawyer entrusted with the responsibility said.

“Our idea was that the war criminals will try to avoid sanction through crypto and we want to get them there,” said Afian.

The de-facto head of crypto matters in the Ukraine, Mykhailo Fedorov, asked for this information on Saturday. Fedorov, the deputy prime minister and minister of digital transformation, tweeted a clarion call for information on crypto wallets held by russian and belarusian politicians.

‘Blacklist’ efforts in full steam

Speaking to CoinDesk from an undisclosed location, Afian’s fighting the crypto part of the war for Ukraine, while worrying about his safety and the safety of his parents. “It’s not aggression. It’s a war with real bombs. It’s crazy. My parents are alive but I don’t know if they are safe,” he said.

At the moment, Afian’s team has only identified a few prominent names but he hopes that after double checking all the wallets they will get plenty more. Afian’s team is coordinating with the ministry of digital transformation, a familiar wing of the government for Afian as he was part of the working group that developed the law on virtual assets in Ukraine.

An integral part of preparing the “blacklist” is to “help all crypto exchanges in the world tag these politicians, their families, partners, children.” He intends to convince the exchanges to “stop working with the politicians, to squeeze them out of the crypto world.”

Ukraine has also asked several crypto exchanges to block russian user accounts, to make sure that the sanctions placed on Russia are effectively implemented.

Afian added that he has been getting “threats from them,” but is “happy to read them” because it makes him believe he is “doing the right thing.”

There are loopholes to this strategy as russian and belarusian politicians could use cold wallets. However, Afian just wants exchanges to make it “toxic” for the politicians and to let them know that “sooner or later we will get them.”

“For me it is personal. My four-year-old son woke up because of bombs. I can never forgive this. They voted for war. I cannot make them suffer directly but I do what I can to punish them,” he said.

“Bounty” will depend on the remaining war funds

The deputy prime minister had also promised a bounty for information on the wallets. Afian says the exact amount will depend on many external factors. “It depends since a majority of our funds could go towards the military resistance but it could be 5 or 10 bitcoins or more,” he added.

According to Afian, this is a watershed moment for decentralised finance (DeFi), or the process of conducting financial transactions on a blockchain without middlemen.

“If the crypto world can show that without centralisation it can stand against crime, then people will trust crypto. If crypto world fails Ukraine, there may not be any future for crypto.”

The post Ukraine Lawyer Says They Have Received Numerous Russian Wallet Addresses for Crypto ‘Blacklist’ appeared first on Crypto Insider.

Russian government bodies agreed on the future regulation of cryptocurrencies. This time, the central bank is on board, too.

The Russian government has published a document setting out the principles for the regulation of cryptocurrencies. The document appeared on the official website on Tuesday night and has the support of the central bank, which had called for a ban on crypto mining and trading.

The document (PDF in Russian) says Russians own over 12 million cryptocurrency accounts and about 2 trillion rubles ($26.7 billion) worth of crypto. It says the country ranks third in the world in bitcoin mining, a share the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance agrees with. With such a large volume of crypto, law-enforcement agencies are concerned they can’t adequately approach crimes involving crypto, the document said.

Cryptocurrency purchases in Russia must take place only through locally registered and licensed companies so that users are fully verified and information about their transactions can be made available to government agencies, the document said. The document does not cover cryptocurrency mining. Many of the stipulations require parliament to pass new laws.

All crypto-related transactions bigger than 600,000 rubles must be reported to the Federal Taxation Service. Failure to do so should be considered a felony, and using cryptocurrency to conduct a crime should be an aggravating factor.

The proposal suggests allowing banks to operate as intermediaries between users and cryptocurrency exchanges. The institutions will need to verify users’ identities, check transactions for signs of illegal activity, provide rails for fiat transfers and keep information about transactions for at least five years. Banks should also provide users the documents necessary to report their taxes, and government agencies data about transactions on the request.

Cryptocurrency exchanges and peer-to-peer marketplaces must register as legal entities and join an official register of digital-currency exchange operators. They must open a crypto account with an authorized bank and satisfy certain requirements applying to traditional financial organizations. Foreign exchanges must have an office in Russia and be registered there.

Banks working with crypto exchanges must use the Transparent Blockchain transaction tracking tool developed by Rosfinmonitoring, not products from foreign companies like Chainalysis, Elliptic or Crystal Blockchain. According to the document, Transparent Blockchain can help identify owners of cryptocurrency wallets using open source data, as well as information from the darknet, create patterns of illegal usage of crypto and serve as a register of addresses related to crimes and terrorism financing.

According to the announcement, the proposal was agreed on by the Bank of Russia, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Economic Development, Federal Taxation Agency, anti-money laundering watchdog Rosfinmonitoring and the key law enforcement bodies: Ministry of the Interior, Federal Security Service and the Prosecutor General’s office. Earlier, the Bank of Russia had been a dissenting voice.

According to the newspaper Kommersant, the approach puts cryptocurrencies on a level with foreign currencies, which are regulated in a similar fashion. The new laws and directives are likely to come into force in the second-half 2022 or early 2023, Kommersant said.

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