The war in Ukraine has been dominating the global news headlines since the Russian invasion began in February. We have heard stories of tragedy and triumph, heroism and barbarism, but the financial implications have been less spoken of. Yes, the list of sanctions imposed upon Russia by the West has been bandied around repeatedly, but how effective are they?
Furthermore, how are Russia coping? What are their biggest ally, the Chinese, doing, if anything, to support them or even help them evade sanctions? How has the rise in the use of cryptocurrencies impacted the implementation of sanctions and how are the United States, as de facto leaders of the Western alliance, responding to such threats? Could the weaponization of the dollar we have seen against Russia hasten the move to a de-dollarised world? This series will seek to answer those questions and more, first through a series of four articles focusing on China’s current and potential role in this crisis.
The world is at a precipice, and QPQ, as a company at the cutting edge of ground-breaking changes within the financial industry, will be impacted like many others by developments resulting from this, particularly if it leads to a new financial iron curtain being formed by China and a collection of its vassal states all conducting trade in renminbi, or the US responding harshly to the threat of cryptocurrencies and novel, democratising innovations in finance to their ability to wield economic sanctions by passing draconian laws to stymie their growth and limit their effectiveness.