The Russian economy is already blocked from various angles, including planned restrictions on the use of cryptocurrencies as agreed by the European Union and this time the United States (US) is starting to panic if the country switches to the digital yuan.
It is understood that 9 US senators have claimed that China's central bank's digital currency (CBDC) is capable of helping Russia bypass economic sanctions from Western countries.
In a statement the senator from Tennessee, Marsha Blackburn claimed related technologies including the digital yuan would empower Russia to overcome global sanctions: SWIFT, Mastercard, PayPal, and Visa.
Indirectly this situation opens up opportunities for the Chinese government to continue to monitor and threaten their people.
Is there potential for Russia to use e-yuan?
According to BitMint CEO Amnon Samid who is involved in e-yuan testing, it is not impossible that China will suggest Russia to use the digital yuan to conduct any transactions.
Even so, e-yuan is not an alternative to the SWIFT system.
If what Samid informed is true, the US State Department did not hesitate to issue a warning against the e-yuan.
But Shanghai fintech adviser Richard Turrin explained the e-yuan is still in trial and if the U.S. State Department warns of action on the asset, it will not be affected.
Turrin also said that the use of digital yuan among international consumers is actually still in the space of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project.
