Bitcoin, Ethereum rise as Japan aids Russian sanctions

Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency internationally, traded higher on Monday, rising 5.78 percent to $47,201.35 as of 8:00 a.m. Riyadh time.

Ether, the second most traded cryptocurrency, was priced at $3,333.50up by 6.03 percent, according to data from Coindesk.

Japan plugs Russia’s crypto loophole

In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Japan will rewrite its foreign exchange regulations to stop Moscow from evading Western financial sanctions with cryptocurrency assets, government officials said Monday.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said in a press conference that Japan is updating the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act to strengthen protections against potential sanctions-busting by Russia through digital assets.

According to Saisuke Sakai, senior economist at Mizuho Research and Technologies, the revision “presumably enables the government to apply the law to crypto-asset exchanges such as banks and oblige them to scrutinize whether their clients are Russian sanction targets.”

Sakai further said that the government probably formulated the legal revision plan to comply with stricter Western standards and the high level of public support for sanctions against Russia.