Alexander Browder, a 17-year-old London teenager, has become Russia's youngest ever sanctions target. He has built a database exposing the crypto networks helping Russia and other rogue states dodge Western sanctions. In March, @Alexbrowder_ published a report for the Henry Jackson Society think tank, describing money-laundering mechanisms involving cryptocurrencies and estimating the scale of such operations by Russia, Iran, and North Korea at around $350 billion. ▪️ Cryptocurrency as a sanctions-evasion tool A stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency whose value is pegged to a stable asset. This may be a currency, such as the ruble. This avoids the sharp price fluctuations typical of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, making the token convenient for payments and transfers. According to Alexander Browder, this stability made the A7A5 stablecoin a useful instrument for sanctions evasion. The ruble-pegged token allowed payments to be conducted outside the banking system, which has been blocked for Russia by Western sanctions. Alexander described A7A5 as one of the West's biggest challenges in the fight against money laundering. According to the British Foreign Office, more than $90 billion passed through the stablecoin network linked to the token in the past year alone. That figure is comparable to roughly half of Russia's annual military spending. In late May, London imposed sanctions on 18 platforms in several countries, accusing them of creating shadow financial systems to circumvent restrictions. ▪️ Russia's response On June 2, the Russian foreign ministry added Browder and four other British citizens to its sanctions list. They were accused of "slander and spreading false information." The teenager was banned from entering Russia. Browder himself took the move calmly. According to him, the sanctions have become a badge of honor and proof that his investigation has "touched a nerve." By the way, Alexander is the son of financier and human rights advocate William Browder @Billbrowder, CEO and co-founder of Hermitage Capital. His lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, died in a Russian prison in 2009 after exposing a major tax fraud scheme. Browder Sr. is an outspoken critic of Putin and the initiator of the Magnitsky Act. According to Alexander, it was his father's story that inspired him to pursue investigations. He believes that today's schemes for financing war through cryptocurrencies require a new, younger generation of analysts. 📹: DW