As Russians look for ways to keep their cash, many are turning to the United Arab Emirates to help liquidate their crypto assets

Crypto firms in the UAE are receiving requests to liquidate billions of dollars of virtual currency as Russians seek a safe haven for their fortunes.

Some clients are using cryptocurrency to invest in real estate, while others prefer to turn the virtual money into hard currency.

Turning crypto into property

One crypto firm has been deluged with requests from Swiss brokers to liquidate billions of dollars of bitcoin because their clients are afraid Switzerland will freeze their assets.

“We’ve had like five or six in the past two weeks. None of them have come off yet – they’ve sort of fallen over at the last minute, which is not rare – but we’ve never had this much interest,” the executive said, adding that his firm normally receives an inquiry for a large transaction once a month.

“We have one guy – I don’t know who he is, but he came through a broker – and they’re like, ‘we want to sell 125,000 bitcoin’. And I’m like, ‘what? That’s $6 billion guys’. And they’re like, ‘yeah, we’re going to send it to a company in Australia’,” the executive said.

Dubai has long been a magnet for the world’s ultra-rich and the UAE’s refusal to take sides between Western allies and Moscow has signalled to Russians that their money is safe there.

Crypto laundering?

Sources in the UAE have confirmed that Russians are using crypto as a way to get their money out of jurisdictions and into the Gulf state.

Cryptocurrency exchanges say they are blocking the accounts of Russians sanctioned by the West over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Major exchanges say they are taking steps to ensure that crypto is not used as a vehicle to evade sanctions.