US Treasury Dept lists digital currencies as part of effort to sanction Russia’s government
The Treasury Department and reportedly the White House are warning U.S.-based companies and individuals not to facilitate crypto transactions sent to certain Russian nationals and banks.
According to regulations from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control scheduled to go into effect on March 1, U.S. residents may not use digital currencies to benefit Russia’s government — including the country’s central bank — as an attempt to circumvent U.S. sanctions in response to the invasion of Ukraine. The guidelines equated crypto transactions to “deceptive or structured transactions or dealings” in attempting to evade sanctions.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the department’s actions were aimed at “significantly limit[ing] Russia’s ability to use assets to finance its destabilizing activities, and target[ing] the funds Putin and his inner circle depend on to enable his invasion of Ukraine.” Officials said the additional actions against Russian entities were authorized based on Executive Order 14024, which allows the Treasury Department to impose sanctions based on “harmful foreign activities, including violating well-established principles of international law.”
Today, the United States and our allies and partners are preventing Putin from accessing his war chest to cushion the blow of our sanctions and fund his invasion of Ukraine. https://t.co/NtWvxpR28Z
On Feb. 24, President Joe Biden announced the U.S. and its allies would impose sanctions on five major Russia-based banks as well as several elite nationals who have “enriched themselves at the expense of the Russian state.” As the Ukraine invasion has continued and officials seem to be looking at additional ways to financially deter the Russian
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