Wally Adeyemo, the 15th Deputy Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, has advised cryptocurrency exchanges and financial institutions not to help Russia avoid financial sanctions. He emphasised that individuals and exchanges who do not comply with this order would be identified and punished by American authorities. The US government will hold any sector that seeks to assist Russia in evading financial sanctions placed on the country following Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” in Ukraine.
In a recent interview with CNBC, Deputy US Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo stated:
We (the US government) want to make it very clear to crypto exchanges, financial institutions, people, and anybody else who may be in a position to assist Russia in taking advantage of and evading our sanctions that we will hold you accountable.
So far, Adeyemo believes that Russia has not been able to avoid the monetary penalties through crypto trading platforms or other financial organisations. He did, however, believe that the world’s largest continent will continue to try to “employ all means available.” Digital asset platforms, as well as all other enterprises, should be aware that they cannot escape the jurisdiction of competent agencies.
Adeyemo warned:
We will come and find you, and we will assure that Russia does not have the capacity to circumvent the sanctions that we have imposed in order to make it more difficult for them to wage their unjustified war in Ukraine.
Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, has also made a similar warning last week. She claims that cryptocurrency firms that assist Russia in circumventing sanctions will face increased scrutiny.
The Treasury, which oversees all government funds, has prior experience punishing bitcoin exchanges. It approved Suex, a trading platform located in the Czech Republic, in September of last year. Adeyemo accused the corporation of aiding operations involving “illicit revenues from at least eight ransomware versions” at the time. Furthermore, he said that 40 percent of the exchange’s known transaction history is related to criminals.
The official further stated that the penalty imposed on Suex was the first such action taken by the Office of Foreign Assets Control against a digital asset trading platform. Such trades, he believes “are fundamental to attackers’ capacity to reap revenues.”
