US diplomats have urged Japan to force them to cut ties with Russia to increase the pressure on the country’s cryptocurrency exchanges and miners. It is reported by the Financial Times.

According to people familiar with the matter, the US has made a request to a few of Japan’s 31 officially licensed crypto exchanges currently operating in Russia. Diplomats also asked Tokyo to take action to stop mining activities in the Irkutsk region.

In response to a request, representatives of the Japan Financial Services Agency (FSA) again demanded that local exchanges cut off all remaining contacts with Russia.

The US State Department said Washington and its allies “are united in our determination to hold Russia accountable for the war against Ukraine.”

“We will continue to evaluate the effectiveness of current measures and will be prepared to take further steps,” a State Department spokesperson said. said.

Most of the trading platforms reviewed by the FT indicated that they do not currently operate in the Russian Federation. In particular, at the request of the FSA, the Decurret bitcoin exchange stopped its operations. The chief executive of an unnamed exchange spoke to the media about at least one mining company that cut ties with Russia in June at the request of the United States.

However, some cryptocurrency projects have created a complex network of subsidiaries to continue operating in the Russian Federation.

The former head of an exchange confirmed that, on the condition of anonymity, Japanese cryptocurrency platforms have been under increasing pressure lately to force them to cease mining and back office operations in Russia.

It also knows of at least one exchange that decided to keep its business there by establishing a fictitious company in Singapore and directing payments through it.

Recall that Japan joined many countries that imposed sanctions on Russia in response to the military invasion of Ukraine. In general, restrictions apply to about 550 individuals and 40 organizations from the Russian Federation.

In March, the country began exploring ways to block cryptocurrency transactions by organizations sanctioned by Russia.

At the same time, Japanese authorities announced their plans to review currency legislation to prevent Russia from evading sanctions through digital assets.

In April, the lower house of Japan’s parliament approved amendments to the law that would tighten economic sanctions against Russia.

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