As financial authorities around the world continue to target sanctioned Russian entities, regulators in Japan along with the country’s crypto association are attempting to find and close gaps that may be used to circumvent sanctions. The two bodies, however, have said they are not discussing the plan to block all Russians.
The Japan Financial Services Agency (FSA) and the Japan Virtual and Crypto Assets Exchange Association reportedly said they were trying to find ways to prevent blacklisted Russian entities from evading sanctions through the use of cryptocurrencies. Japan’s move to target Russian cryptocurrency users came shortly after Tokyo imposed sanctions on Russian officials, including the country’s President Vladimir Putin.
On the other hand, a report suggested that the two parties are, however, not discussing or deliberating on a plan to block all Russian users. Instead, the report said the regulator is focused on finding ways to stop anyone that uses cryptocurrencies to evade sanctions.
As previously reported by Bitcoin.com News, some major cryptocurrency exchanges have refused to block all Russian users, as requested by many people, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. One such exchange, Kraken, said it could not freeze Russian customer accounts without a legal obligation to do so.
Effectiveness of Sanctions Against Russia
Meanwhile, a Bloomberg report quotes the Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki who explains to the country’s parliament how Tokyo is working to plug loopholes that may be exploited by sanctioned Russians. He said:
We closely monitor the situations of regulations such as crypto assets and SPFS in order to secure [the] effectiveness of sanctions against Russia.
Revelations that Japan is planning to block sanctioned Russian entities are coming just a few days after some South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges confirmed that they are now “blocking users from countries that are at high risks of money laundering.”
