FDD Assesses Risks of Crypto Use by Countries Under US Sanctions

The American Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) has assembled an assessment of current and future risks of cryptocurrency use by countries adversarial to the United States in a report published on July 11.

In the report, the agency outlines possible future scenarios that would make blockchain technology sanctions resistance a larger threat. Specifically, the FDD analyzed how countries such as Russia, China, Venezuela and Iran are deploying digital currency technology, and in what way this phenomenon could influence United States sanctions in future.

In the report, the FDD warns against a scenario in which one of the above countries convinces other nations to use a state-based cryptocurrency based on a major commodity export such as oil, sanctions would be much harder to enforce. 

Another scenario of concern would arise if an adversary were to make progress in the creation of digital currency wallet infrastructure in which its citizens can hold and trade the cryptocurrency,…