Switzerland is not only one with the European Union to impose sanctions on Russia, it is also going after the crypto of the Russians.
Swiss bank comes with measures
According to a report from Friday of the Financial Times the Swiss government plans to freeze crypto coins owned by Russian citizens and companies within Swiss borders. This freeze would coincide with sanctions already imposed by the European Union. All this is in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
As the Financial Times reports, Swiss Finance Minister Guy Parmelin says 223 Russians, including close associates of President Vladimir Putin, had their bank accounts and physical assets blocked by Switzerland over the past week. The crypto bans are an additional penalty in addition to the EU’s already existing sanctions.
An official at the Treasury Department tells the Financial Times that freezing crypto was necessary. Switzerland wants to protect the integrity of its blockchain industry. According to a report by CVVCthere were approximately 1,128 blockchain companies in Switzerland and the neighboring principality of Liechtenstein in December 2021.
On Wednesday, the European Union announced plans to crack down on Russia’s ability to circumvent economic sanctions using cryptocurrencies.
“We are taking measures, especially with regard to crypto currencies. These should not be used to circumvent the financial sanctions decided by the 27 EU countries, said French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire.
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Identifying crypto
Earlier, there were also calls to exchanges such as Coinbase and Binance to ban and freeze Russian access to crypto. An exchange can freeze or restrict access to crypto. It would be more difficult if the crypto currency is in a cold storage or self-storing wallet.
“If someone holds their crypto key themselves, it will be virtually impossible to identify it. But if they use crypto services, funds, exchanges, and so on, then we can focus on these points,” the official told the Financial Times.