According to reports, Russia's leading unsanctioned metal producers have begun utilizing Tether's USDT stablecoin for conducting cross-border transactions with Chinese counterparts.

Amidst warnings from the U.S. Treasury Department regarding secondary sanctions on lenders facilitating sanctions evasion, Russian commodities giants are opting for stablecoins to settle transactions with China. Bloomberg, citing top executives from two Russian metal companies, reveals that these producers are increasingly turning to USDT stablecoin and, in some instances, settling trades through Hong Kong.

While the exact volume of these transactions remains undisclosed, sources close to the companies suggest that alternatives to stablecoins are comparatively slower or pose a risk of freezing overseas bank accounts. At the time of reporting, Tether has not issued any public statements regarding this development.

Despite Russia's exploration of cryptocurrencies as a means to evade international sanctions, experts such as Chainalysis co-founder Jonathan Levin emphasize the inherent transparency of major blockchain networks, making systematic laundering of large cryptocurrency amounts challenging for sanctioned entities.

Jonathan Levin noted, "By mapping a single cryptocurrency wallet address to an illicit actor, law enforcement can unlock immediate insight into the entire network of services that facilitate the actor."

Nonetheless, sanctioned regions continue seeking alternatives to bypass Western restrictions. In mid-April, crypto.news reported that Venezuela's state-run oil company, PDVSA, intensified its utilization of USDT in crude and fuel exports amidst tightening U.S. sanctions.

Venezuelan oil minister Pedro Tellechea acknowledged the country's diversified currency usage in contracts, with some contracts favoring cryptocurrency as a payment method. Following Tellechea's statement, Tether publicly reiterated its commitment to comply with the OFAC SDN list and announced plans to promptly freeze sanctioned addresses.