[Dubai 11th Reuters]–The Arab Emirates, a financial hub in the Middle East, uses crypto assets (virtual currency) by wealthy Russians to avoid sanctions imposed by the invasion of Ukraine and move assets to safe places. It is rushing to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Business executives and financial officials have revealed.
There are customers who invest in UAE real estate with virtual currency, and there are cases where they exchange virtual currency for foreign currency and consult with UAE companies who want to hide it somewhere.
According to executives, a UAE crypto-related company has received a large number of inquiries from Swiss brokers over the past 10 days asking them to liquidate billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin. The amount per case was all over $ 2 billion. Brokers’ customers are worried that Switzerland will freeze its assets.
He has received five or six inquiries in the last two weeks, and has never seen such a number. There was also a case where he wanted to sell 125,000 Bitcoins (equivalent to $ 6 billion) to send to an Australian company.
Swiss financial market regulators declined to comment on cryptocurrency trading volumes.
UAE financial officials have admitted that Russians are using cryptocurrencies to buy real estate in Dubai to withdraw funds from other countries and regions and transfer them to the UAE.
Major cryptocurrency exchange companies such as Coinbase Global and Binance have taken steps to prevent cryptocurrencies from being used as a means of evading sanctions, and explained that they are working with law enforcement agencies on this issue.
However, as cryptocurrencies give users a high degree of anonymity, some European countries, such as Germany and Estonia, have first argued that surveillance should be strengthened to close loopholes that allow sanctions evasion. ..
The UAE has recently been put on the “gray list” of the international organization “Financial Action Task Force (FATF)” and has been the subject of increased surveillance over financial crimes such as money laundering.
The UAE has a history of deepening relations with Russia for many years, is not in line with sanctions by Western countries, and the central bank has not announced any guidelines.
Dubai, a UAE tourist destination, has long been popular with Russians, with Russians occupying the top spots in tourism and real estate purchases even before the Russian economy was disrupted by the Ukrainian conflict and sanctions.
