The G7 alliance recently formed a collective front to attack Russia with financial sanctions. The onset of the heavy financial restrictions has triggered an emergency response among the Russian official and oligarchs. The latest report from Reuters indicates that Russian crypto holders are in contact with the cryptocurrency exchanges operating in Dubai.
It is worth mentioning that the White House and EU financial experts postulated the idea that the Russian government will not be able to use cryptocurrencies as a viable source for bypassing the financial sanctions by the western bloc. However, the collective crackdown of the G7 alliance has moved the Russian officials to make big decisions leaving tact and caution aside.
Russian Billionaires to Convert Crypto Reserves into Cash
Many experts postulated the idea that cryptocurrencies are not going to be sufficient for the Russian oligarchy to escape the strict financial restrictions imposed by the west. However, the latest development has changed the narrative altogether. The Reuters report revealed that the rich Russian officials were converting billions of dollars of crypto reserves on Dubai exchanges.
The report further explained that these oligarchs were planning to convert their digital assets into fiat currencies or real estate. On the other hand, the private banking sector in Switzerland revealed that during the last few weeks, the bank received an overwhelming number of orders from their clients to convert their Bitcoin reserves into cash, sighting the fears that their accounts will be frozen.
The report interviewed a Swiss banking official who preferred to remain unnamed. The insider revealed that the bank has been getting sale offers like 125,000 Bitcoins at once. The bank officials have claimed that such a big sale will procure the seller $6 billion in one go and that the sellers claim that they want to send the money to an Australian firm.
On the other hand, a massive number of Russian and Belarusian citizens have started to visit Dubai, bringing as many cryptocurrencies with them as possible. Under these circumstances, the demand for local fiat in Dubai is consistently increasing. Meanwhile, an email statement from the State Secretariat at SECO, the financial regulator of Switzerland, has made it clear that the financial restrictions for Russia are also added to their cryptocurrency reserves.