European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde believes market data backs her belief that Russian actors are using cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) to circumvent sanctions.
What Happened: Lagarde said that there are signs in the market that Russians are converting their local fiat currency into crypto and stablecoins as part of their sanction evasion strategy, according to a Bloomberg report.
She said during a virtual event held on Tuesday: "When you see the volumes of rubles into stable, into cryptos, at the moment it is the highest level that we have seen since maybe 2021."
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Lagarde believes that cryptocurrencies “are certainly being used, as we speak, as a way to try to circumvent the sanctions that have been decided by many countries around the world against Russia.”
ECB Executive Board member Fabio Panetta also warned that cryptocurrencies could constitute a "major loophole" in the financial system and the risk for their misuse "to circumvent the sanctions against Russia is an important reminder that these markets must be required to comply with the strictest standards."
Those standards would include "know your customer, anti-money laundering and disclosure requirements," he added.
