A New Bill Aims To Prevent Sanctioned Russian Oligarchs From Hiding Their Assets Using Cryptocurrency

<p>But the head of Ukraine’s biggest crypto exchange fears that regulation of digital assets markets could hurt ordinary Russians’ ability to push back against Putin.</p> <p>During a Senate hearing Thursday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren introduced a new bill that would authorise the president to sanction foreign crypto firms that are conducting business with sanctioned Russian entities, addressing the concerns held by several representatives that oligarchs could move and conceal their assets through crypto networks.</p> <p>But Michael Chobanian, the founder of Ukraine’s largest crypto exchange and one of the hearing’s witnesses, told members of Congress that it would be extremely difficult for Russian oligarchs to use crypto to evade economic sanctions and that efforts to regulate cryptocurrency markets should not undermine the ability of Russian citizens to “bring down” the Putin regime.</p> <p>“Crypto provides new payment options for criminals and cheats,” Warren said during the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs hearing, which focused on the role of cryptocurrency in illegal finance. In attendance were a spectrum of witnesses, including Chobanian, who has worked closely with Ukraine’s government to facilitate its wartime crypto fundraising campaign, and Michael Mosier, former acting director of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), which recently flagged crypto as a potential albeit limited method for avoiding sanctions.</p> <p>Warren’s legislation, called the Digital Asset Sanctions Compliance Enhancement Act, has been cosponsored by nine members of the banking committee, including Sen. Mark Warner. It comes one week after President Joe Biden signed an executive order calling for a “whole-of-government approach” to crypto regulation.</p> <p>“We know other countries have used crypto to avoid sanctions,” Warren said. The senator noted that Iran, Venezuela, and North Korea have circumvented sanctions via crypto. She said that last year, 74% of the revenue generated by r