Sanctions

Dynamics within the global energy markets could define the future of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, not specifically in terms of Demand and Supply. There are ongoing wars within the oil industry largely orchestrated by the fightings between major oil producing countries.

The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets (OFAC) says it has sanctioned two Chinese nationals who laundered cryptocurrencies stolen by millions of North Korean hackers. Since the industry is still young, most cryptocurrency exchanges are under a major threat of losing their virtual currency holdings to wrong hands.

As of the recent political events between the long term sworn enemies of the United States and Iran, new measures have been reintroduced by the former. The United States under the Donald Trump administration imposed fresh economic sanctions on Iran. Following the sanctions aftermath prices of commodities like Bitcoin and Gold started to steadily enter a bull run.

The President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, advised Muslim countries to embrace financial and economic cooperation to battle the “U.S. hegemony” and he used this platform to criticize sanctions imposed on his nation by America.

The government of Venezuela has allegedly been spinning airport tax revenues into Bitcoin (BTC) and virtual currency to sidestep international sanctions. From the research made by a Spanish newspaper ABC, the President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro plus his working admin are allegedly exploiting a virtual currency wallet application to spin tax revenue into popular digital assets, and then traded on cryptocurrency exchanges in different countries including China, Iran, Hungary, Russia, etc.

The Russian arms producer, Soyuzmash, seeks to bypass US sanctions using cryptocurrency. The Union of Machine Builders recently requested permission from the Central Bank of Russia to allow it accept payments in Bitcoin for all its activities related to weapons. They believe this will enable them doge the US and other existing international sanctions. Russia is the world’s second main exporter of arms, commanding 21% of the global market, following the US with around 36%.

A recently published report by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) for Defense & Security Studies, shows how DPRK - Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) wants to exploit Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies, especially in Southeast Asia, so as to bypass international economic sanctions.

OECD developed a set of anti-money laundering methods that covers manipulations with digital currencies as well as fiat currencies. Such measures include adequate verification of customers for transactions exceeding $1,000, sanctions for legal violations, and registering the subjects that provide crypto related services.

Iran - a theocratic Islamic republic in the Middle East, is expected to declare a state-backed crypto at the yearly Electronic Banking & Payment Systems (EBPS) conference that will begin on Tuesday, January 29.