Reported by: Brian McGleenon

Russians are selling rubles (RUBUSD=X) for crypto in an effort to evade sanctions and settle cross-border payments, a money laundering expert has claimed.

Due to the sanctions that prohibit Russian businesses from making international settlements in US dollars, companies and individuals are now turning to crypto as an alternative.

Cryptocurrency activity in both Russia and Ukraine has spiked since Russian forces invaded on 24 February.

In March, Ukrainian hryvnia-denominated (UAH=X) crypto trade volume rose 121% to $307m (£278.6m), while Russian ruble-denominated crypto trade volume rose 35% to $805, according to a new report from blockchain analysis company Chainalysis.

There has been an increase in ruble for crypto trades on over 100 cryptocurrency exchanges that serve Russia.

Chen Limin, CFO and head of trading operations at the ICB Fund, told Russian media outlet Izvestia that stablecoins are the preferred digital asset for Russians exchanging ruble for crypto.

According to Chainalysis about 94% of all stablecoins purchased for ruble on these exchanges were USTether (USDT-USD), the second largest was USDC (USDC-USD), which took nearly 6%.

Unlike bitcoin (BTC-USD) and ethereum (ETH-USD), which are too volatile to conduct cross-border trade, stablecoins pegged to the dollar can be used and the entry and exit points of the trade disguised using crypto “mixer” technology.

Read full report: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tactic-russians-using-avoid-sanctions-crypto-050005250.html