Chainalysis: Pro-Russian forces in Ukraine have raised $2.2 million in cryptocurrencies

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Chainalysis analystsreported that since February, pro-Russian armed groups, militias and volunteers operating in Ukraine have received $2.2 million in cryptocurrency donations.

Analysts identified 54 organizations thataccepted donations in digital assets. Funds were mainly sent in bitcoins and ether. In total, pro-Russian forces received $1.45 million in BTC, more than $590,000 in ETH, 206,822 in USDT stablecoins on the Tron network, $21,000 in LTC and $2,300 in DOGE. The funds are used, Chainalysis assures, for the purchase of military equipment and “dissemination of propaganda.”

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1/ Since the start of the war in Ukraine, 54 pro-Russian groups have collectively received over $2.2M worth of #crypto, primarily from BTC and ETH donations.

In this thread, we break down who’s receiving these funds and how the donations are being spent. pic.twitter.com/gRpg1z6Smh

— Chainalysis (@chainalysis) July 29, 2022

About half of the identified organizationsoperate on the territory of the Donbass People's Republic. Some of them are already under sanctions; accordingly, cryptocurrencies are used to circumvent these sanctions, analysts conclude.

Fundraising is carried out mainly through advertisements on social networks, and mixers are often used to maintain anonymity.&nbsp;

Chainalysis noted that trackingIt was the use of cryptocurrencies and blockchain that made it possible to receive funds. If the funds were transferred in cash or money transfers, then tracking them would be much more difficult.

Ранее международное рейтинговое агентство Moody’s провело исследование, в результате которого выяснило, что России будет очень затруднительно уклоняться от санкций с помощью криптовалют.