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Several regulated Japanese cryptocurrency exchanges are still offering their services in Russia despite US efforts to isolate the Kremlin on the international level, the Financial Times has learned, citing diplomats close to the matter.
The report says the US has called on Tokyo to put more pressure on local miners as they are still handle mining operations in the Irkutsk region in Siberia. Although Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) once again demanded crypto exchanges to cut any relationships with Russia, sources said the financial watchdog did not "directly ask the exchanges" to cease operations in Russia.
Some Japanese companies are trying to avoid this.
As a result, people close to the situation told the FT that some crypto exchanges and mining firms have created a complex network of subsidiaries to avoid sanctions so that they could work in Russia. Sources noted though that the US is aware of that and has already alarmed concerns to Tokyo. However, it remains unclear if Tokyo made any change since then.
