The Role Of Cryptocurrencies In The Ukraine Conflict

The Role Of Cryptocurrencies In The Ukraine Conflict

There have been some stories about the role of cryptocurrencies in the Ukraine conflict and we have a comment for you from CryptoUK, the trusted voice of the UK crypto industry. This can either be used on its own or added to an article on this topic.

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The Role Of Cryptocurrencies In The Ukraine Conflict

Commenting on the role of cryptocurrency in the Ukraine conflict, Ian Taylor, Executive Director of CryptoUK, the trusted voice of the UK crypto industry, said:

“Crypto is a force for good at this terrible moment for Ukraine. Our member Merkle Science has tracked £36 million in crypto donations to support the Ukrainian resistance.

“Cryptocurrencies have also been used to support Ukrainians to buy crucial goods and services when there is no cash in ATMs and critical infrastructure has been damaged by Russia’s attacks. Concerned friends and family abroad can send money to their loved ones across borders using cryptocurrency.

“We are proud to see the crypto industry coming together to facilitate this movement of funds, as well as going above and beyond to support economic sanctions. We have reached out to all our members to encourage sanctioned Russians to be denied access to their platforms.

“We acknowledge – and have acknowledged to Dr Lisa Cameron, chair of the Crypto and Digital Assets All-Party Parliamentary Group – that much of the crypto industry is unregulated, and therefore enables some sanctions evasion.

“CryptoUK is talking to the Treasury’s illicit finance and economic crime teams to engage on this issue. We were also involved with a National Crime Agency public and private partnership call to see what the industry can do to help.

“We have a two-tier system in the UK where only 34 crypto companies hold a licence from the FCA covering anti-money laundering. A further 150 companies are unregulated and under no obligation to comply with sanctions measures. We are reaching out to that cohort to make suggestions and ensure they do not allow their platforms to become a loophole for sanctioned Russians.

“We have seen a huge response from analytics companies we work with to try to help track funds emanating from Russia. Whilst mining and exchanges are illegal in Russia, there are a lot of coin-swap pools being used that are trackable, so the industry can see transactions coming onto a platform that might have originated or passed through those pools.

“With the likely collapse of the Ukrainian economy as this conflict continues, crypto provides a way for people to protect their investments so that, for example, their pensions aren’t eroded. It can also be used to bypass capital controls so that people have control over their own money. Crypto is trustless and provides financial sovereignty whether that’s from a failure of infrastructure due to war or from a mismanaged economy.”