- PSG held by Nice to leave Monaco clear at top of Ligue 1
- AC Milan fall at Fiorentina after De Gea's penalty heroics
- Lewandowski treble for leaders Barca as Atletico held
- Fresh Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Sucic stunner earns Real Sociedad draw against Atletico
- PSG draw with Nice, fail to reclaim top spot in Ligue 1
- Gudmundsson downs AC Milan after De Gea's penalty heroics for Fiorentina
- 'Yes' vote prevails in Kazakhstan nuclear plant vote: TV
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- Lewandowski hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- 'Nothing gets in way of team,' says Celtics' MVP hopeful Tatum
- India maintain Pakistan stranglehold as Windies cruise at Women's T20 World Cup
- 'We will win!': Mozambique's ruling party confident at final vote rally
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation
- Postecoglou slams 'unacceptable' Spurs after 'terrible' loss at Brighton
- Marmoush double denies Bayern outright Bundesliga top spot
- Rallies worldwide call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire
- Maresca hails Chelsea's 'fighting' spirit after draw with 10-man Forest
- New 'Joker' film, a dark musical, tops N.America box office
- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
- Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'
- West Indies cruise to T20 World Cup win over Scotland
- Arshdeep, Chakravarthy help India hammer Bangladesh in T20 opener
- Lewandowski's quickfire hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Man Utd fire another blank in Aston Villa stalemate
- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
- Penrith Panthers win fourth straight NRL title after downing Storm
- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
- Israel pounds Lebanon ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
Cryptocurrencies enter Ukraine conflict
Having evacuated part of his team from Kyiv, Mike Chobanian, boss of cryptocurrency exchange Kuna, is watching the effects of Russia's invasion on his flourishing industry with a weary eye.
"Business is running, but we're in survival mode over here," the 37-year-old boss said during a video call from his current refuge after leaving the Ukraine capital.
Russia's military build-up led many Ukrainians to turn to cryptocurrencies, before the invasion seized up the sector.
But it is still facilitating global fundraising efforts, albeit through an opaque decentralised system that Russia could also exploit to circumvent sanctions.
The Ukrainian government on Friday imposed sanctions against the rouble, forcing Chobanian to halt cryptocurrency swaps with the Russian currency.
"But who cares when it's war?" said Chobanian.
His platform saw a steady rise in business from Ukrainian accounts in recent weeks.
Worried about rising tensions, locals were buying up stablecoins, the dollar-backed electronic currencies often criticised by Western regulators for their opacity.
"Bitcoin, you engage yourself in gambling, you don't know if it's going to go up or down," he explained.
"But here you're trying to preserve what you have and people perceive the US dollar as a safe heaven. Cash is useless, you can't do much with it, it can be easily taken away with a gun. USDT (stablecoin) is a safe haven."
But trading has become increasingly difficult since the invasion.
Several cryptocurrency users have, however, launched fundraisers that they say are dedicated to aiding the Ukrainian military and relief efforts.
More than $4 million in cryptocurrencies arrived in two days on a single fundraising wallet for the "Come Back Alive" organisation, cryptocurrency research firm Elliptic said Friday.
- Sanction busting -
"There's no limit, it can be raised from around the world, it's not dependent on the banking system, it's more transparent because it's a blockchain. It's a better option," said Chobanian.
This enthusiasm is not completely shared by the Ukrainian government.
On the communication site UkraineNOW, the Ministry of Defence calls for donations via bank transfers, but specifies that "national legislation does not allow the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine to use other payment systems ('Webmoney', 'Bitcoin', 'PayPal', etc.)."
And the same decentralised network that makes cryptocurrencies attractive to Ukrainian fundraisers could also benefit Russia.
Among the sanctions being considered against Moscow is exclusion from the Swift system, which allows interbank settlements between financial institutions around the world.
Some fear that cryptocurrencies could allow Russia to bypass such sanctions.
"North Korea has conducted robust hacking efforts with the intention of stealing cryptocurrency from exchanges and DeFi platforms," explained Caroline Malcolm, from the analysis firm Chainalysis.
"They've been able to bring in billions of dollars worth of funds to the country, evading sanctions."
Iran has also used cryptocurrency to bring money into the country, but mined it rather than hacking it, she added.
But as with the traditional financial system, "the cryptocurrency ecosystem can put measures in place to identify transactions from identified sanctioned entities," she said.
This could mainly be achieved by analysing data from blockchains -- the registers where all cryptocurrency transactions are recorded.
F.Dubois--AMWN