Blockchain analysis firm Elliptic flags digital wallet tied to sanctioned Russians: Bloomberg

Blockchain analysis provider Elliptic flagged a digital wallet with "significant crypto-asset holdings" that could be linked to sanctioned Russian oligarchs, Tom Robinson, the company's co-founder, told Bloomberg Monday. The news came as regulators around the globe debate on whether virtual currencies could offer sanctioned Russian officials a way to work around sanctions. “Crypto can be used for sanctions evasion,” Robinson told Bloomberg. “What’s in question is on what kind of scale. It’s not proving out realistic that oligarchs can completely bypass sanctions by moving all their wealth into crypto. Crypto is highly traceable. Crypto can and will be used for sanctions evasion, but it’s not the silver bullet,” he added. On a similar note, more than 400 virtual asset services let their users buy crypto with Russian rubles, Robinson noted. Activity on these exchanges tripled vs. the week before war broke out in Ukraine. For the crypto market, bitcoin (BTC-USD