Representatives of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) commented on their yesterday’s report dated April 19, 2022, in which they warned the world community about their concerns. They expressed the opinion that members of the government and companies from Russia that are on the sanctions lists can use cryptocurrency mining in order to avoid financial restrictions from the US and the European Union.
The organization assured that their experts conducted a thorough analysis of the industry and only after that published a new report. In it, they mentioned that Russia, as well as a number of other countries, could significantly increase cryptocurrency mining efforts in the near future. Analysts of the institution assured that this would not help countries completely avoid sanctions, but could become one of the tools to combat them.
According to IMF members, Russia is also able to use many other ways to move money outside the traditional financial system. One notable example would be the use of decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges (DEXs) along with anonymity enhancing platforms such as crypto mixers like Tornado Cash.
In addition, the IMF stressed that Russians will increase the use of confidential cryptocurrencies such as Monero (XMR), which help to avoid transaction tracking. Such instruments will also greatly ease the consequences of economic bans.
According to IMF representatives, Russia, like Iran and North Korea, may turn its attention to the mining of cryptocurrencies in order to monetize energy resources that cannot be exported.
The organization said that at the moment the share of mining in the Russian Federation and the total amount of income from this activity suggest that the scale of such flows is relatively limited. In this regard, the IMF has asked regulators in the US and the UK, as well as all payment companies, to be more vigilant and cautious in their operations.
An Earlier edition informed that the IMF published a report in which he said that the national digital currency of Nigeria, eNaira, has become a very common tool for laundering illegal funds.
