The European Commission has explained that crypto assets will fall under additional sanctions targeted against Russia and Belarus in response to the conflict in Ukraine.
The European Commission said member states had agreed to modify regulations with the goal of ensuring that Russian sanctions cannot be evaded, including through Belarus. The commission said crypto assets fell under the scope of transferable securities, adding that loans and credit provided using crypto would not be permitted as part of these restrictive financial measures.
The expansion of sanctions follows the commission announcing in February that it would be removing several Russian banks from the SWIFT cross-border payment network. These measures did not specify how to handle crypto at the time. The European Parliament Committee on Economics and Monetary Affairs is also preparing to hold a vote on a regulatory framework for crypto assets in the EU.
Both the United States and the European Union have hinted they would be looking at Russia potentially using digital currency to evade sanctions that some have described as economic warfare. In addition private businesses from fast food chain McDonald’s to major credit card companies including Visa and Mastercard have announced they will be scaling down in Russia and Belarus or entirely stopping operations in the two countries in response to the situation with Ukraine.
