Bitcoin Bans to Blockchain Statecraft: Russia’s Secret War for Financial Sovereignty
Chris Conway, Horst Treiblmaier, Gayane Mkrtchyan
February 12, 2026
RM Exclusives
What began as a ban on “monetary surrogates” has become a sprawling system of state-engineered stablecoin rails, a digital ruble designed to move money beyond the reach of sanctions and more.