Report: Russia uses Bitcoin to fund teens for espionage and sabotage

PANews reported on June 15 that according to Decrypt, an investigation conducted by Reuters in cooperation with blockchain analysis companies Global Ledger and Recoveris showed that Russian intelligence agencies have been using Bitcoin to pay untrained teenage spies. A Reuters report detailed the recent case of Canadian citizen Laken Pavan. Pavan was sentenced to 20 months in prison in Poland last December after admitting to assisting Russian intelligence services. Recoveris stated that the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Military Intelligence Agency (GRU) have repeatedly used cryptocurrencies to fund young people in Poland to perform tasks such as surveillance, graffiti and arson, and part of the funds were used to hire mercenaries in the Donbas region and bribe European politicians.

"The advantage of using Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies to pay agents or assets is that any amount of cryptocurrency (even millions of dollars) can be transferred instantly around the world without any government barriers, except for the gateway from cryptocurrency to fiat currency," said the Russian intelligence agencies. In addition, they can also take advantage of the transparency brought by cryptocurrencies. "Handlers and senior intelligence officials can monitor the flow of cryptocurrencies." "Any expenditure by agents can be audited to ensure that it is used for operational purposes." Given the continued sanctions restrictions, such crypto payments are expected to continue, and transparency allows Russia to monitor the use of funds.