Here’s how Asian countries deal with crypto sanctions against Russia

cointelegraph.com:

Amid the United States and the European Union taking measures to prevent Russia from using cryptocurrencies to potentially evade sanctions, some countries in Asia have also been moving to respond to the situation.

Japan became the latest country in Asia to call cryptocurrency firms to comply with sanctions against Russia, requesting on Monday that they  not process crypto transactions involving sanctioned individuals or entities in Russia and Belarus.

The Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA) and the Ministry of Finance issued a joint statement on sanctions against Russia, stressing that crypto is part of the restrictions and any crypto assets identified to be related to sanctions should be frozen.

The FSA reportedly said that any unauthorized transactions under sanctions, including transfers of cryptocurrencies or nonfungible tokens (NFT), are subject to major penalties like imprisonment of up to three years or a 1 million yen ($8,500) fine.

The latest sanction alert from the Japanese government came shortly after the European Union, the United States and the G7 nations announced new actions targeting Russia’s economy and wealthy individuals linked to potential attempts to circumvent sanctions using crypto.

Other Asian countries like Singapore have also been moving to comply with sanctions against Russia. Singapore over the last week reportedly banned all local financial institutions from conducting transactions with sanctioned Russian banks as well as facilitating fundraising for the Russian government and related entities, with sanctions covering cryptocurrency transactions, nonfungible tokens and other digital assets.

Executives at some crypto businesses like the crypto exchange Luno, reportedly suggested that most