Amid attacks over Ukraine, a report shows how some Russian billionaires are taking their cryptocurrencies to the UAE, searching for a haven to house their money.
Cryptocurrency firms located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have received massive requests from Russian customers to liquidate an excessive amount of dollars in digital assets like Bitcoin. This information got reported exclusively by the Reuters news outlet, which mentioned plenty of local industry sources.
An executive at one of the firms expressed that he received many inquiries in the last ten days from Swiss brokers requesting for liquidation of billions of dollars in bitcoin because their customers are afraid that Switzerland would block their funds.
Russians Bring their Cryptocurrencies to the UAE
The executive’s statements to Reuters suggest that it is not just a common type of client since they speak of managing exorbitant amounts of funds. According to the individual, none of the requests received have been for less than $2 billion.
That executive said they have clients that go to the entity through a broker and talk about selling at least 125,000 bitcoins, an amount in dollars that could even surpass $6 billion.
According to the report, not all customers from Russia desire to liquidate their digital assets. Some customers wish to invest in the UAE real estate sector, while others want to use the services of UAE companies to turn their digital wealth into hard assets. Others want to save their money and keep it away from entities blocking the funds.
A UAE-based real estate agent who operates with digital currencies told that media outlet that they had seen many Russians and even Belarusians arriving at countries like Dubai and bringing crypto. A financial source in the country also assured the increasing sales of cryptocurrency properties to Russians.
Dubai has long been a popular spot for the Russians with massive wealth and an ideal place for real estate investors even before Ukraine’s invasion started. On the other hand, the UAE, which keeps executing crypto-friendly regulations, becoming an attractive destination for the sector, has desisted from taking sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
As CoinDesk noted, UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash highlighted that the Gulf state firmly thinks taking sides would only lead to more violence between the parties. The UAE’s approach encouraged all parties to find more diplomatic ways to solve their problems.
A haven for Russian Money
The Reuters report suggests that the apparent political ambiguity of the UAE regarding the war in Europe and the favorable regulations with digital assets could be an escape path for the Russians amid Western punishments.
The outlet noted that The UAE had not joined the financial punishments applied by Western nations, and its central bank has not released any guidance regarding the procedures.
Two executives from Healy Consultants, which provides mentorships to business start-ups, including cryptocurrency ones, confirmed that they received more interest from Russian clients.
They argued that this phenomenon is because the Russians are trying to find ways out against the inflationary pressures the ruble is currently facing amid the warfare, so they are turning to digital assets to mitigate the stress.
By: Jenson Nuñez
