American diplomats urged Japan to step up pressure on the country’s cryptocurrency exchanges and miners to sever ties with Russia. The Financial Times reports.
According to informed sources, the United States addressed queries to several of Japan’s 31 officially licensed crypto exchanges that are still operating in Russia. Diplomats also urged Tokyo to take measures to halt mining operations in Irkutsk Oblast.
In response to the request, representatives of the Financial Services Agency (FSA) of Japan again demanded that local exchanges sever all remaining contacts with Russia.
The U.S. State Department said that Washington and its allies are united in our determination to hold Russia to account for its war against Ukraine.
“We will continue to assess the effectiveness of the measures in place and stand ready to take further steps,” said a State Department spokesperson.
Many of FT’s surveyed trading platforms said they are not currently active in Russia. In particular, after the FSA request, the Bitcoin exchange Decurret ceased operations. A senior executive of an unnamed exchange told the media about at least one mining company that severed ties with Russia in June following the U.S. request.
However, some cryptocurrency projects have created a complex network of subsidiary companies to continue operating in Russia.
A former head of one exchange, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Japanese crypto platforms have recently faced intensified pressure to force them to halt mining and back-office operations in Russia.
He is aware of at least one exchange that decided to retain its business there by creating a shell company in Singapore and routing payments through it.
In line with this, Japan has joined a number of countries that have imposed sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine. Overall, the restrictions target about 550 individuals and 40 organisations from Russia.
In March, the country began examining ways to block cryptocurrency transactions by sanctioned Russian entities.
At the same time, the Japanese authorities announced plans to revise foreign-exchange laws to prevent Russia from evading sanctions via digital assets.
In April, the lower house of parliament approved amendments to the legislation tightening economic sanctions against Russia.
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