The volumes of rubles converted into cryptocurrencies have reached a particularly high level since the sanctions imposed by the West.
The President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, warned on Tuesday about the “menaceWhat the cryptocurrencies obtained in exchange for rubles represent in an attempt to circumvent the sanctions of Western countries against Russia.
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Of all digital asset classes, “crypto-assets concern me the most in the Russian contextsaid the central banker at a Bank for International Settlements innovation forum. “Is it a threat? Yes“, she claimed, after pointing out that cryptocurrencies escaping the traditional banking system are “certainly used as a means of trying to circumvent the sanctions that have been decided by many countries around the world against Russia and specific actors».
Individuals or Russian companies “are obviously trying to convert their rubles into crypto-assets“, noted Christine Lagarde, noting that the volumes of converted rubles reached a particularly high level since the sanctions imposed by the West.
Read alsoRussia would use bitcoins to circumvent sanctions
The inclusion of cryptocurrencies in the catalog of Western sanctions
Europe recently extended its catalog of sanctions taken after the start of the conflict in Ukraine to cryptocurrencies, in particular by excluding Russian banking establishments from the Swift international interbank system.
But cryptocurrencies, using blockchain technology (“blockchain”), can be used outside the banking system by sanctioned persons to continue transacting.
Before the armed conflict in Ukraine, Russia already occupied the top of the world podium for the use and creation (“minage») de cryptomonnaies.
Bitcoin, the most famous cryptocurrency,does not constitute (…) a store of value, but rather a speculative asset, somewhat akin to tulip bulbs in the Netherlands in the 17th century“, for his part declared the Governor of the Banque de France, François Villeroy de Galhau, at the opening of the forum. Central bankers are accustomed to criticism of cryptocurrencies because of their high volatility, their possible use for the benefit of criminal activities and more generally their opacity.
The ECB is betting on the creation within 5 years of a digital euro as a secure and anonymous central bank currency for daily payments, alongside cash. For this complex project,we are on time and on budget“, assured Christine Lagarde.
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