Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), reportedly urged regulators to grant greenlight for a crypto regulatory framework, preventing Russia from acquiring economic sanctions.

Specifically, during her speech at an informal meeting of economics and finance ministers, Lagarde reportedly claimed that the ECB would be “decisively and rigorously”, regarding the implementation of the sanctions on Russia, proposed by EU regulators, amid the new initiative of waging a war on Ukraine from Russia. 

The ECB president, providing answers for an inquiry related to the possibility of Russia utilizing crypto to avoid a few of these measures, reportedly called for action on a current proposal for a regulatory framework on digital assets.

“Whenever there is a ban or prohibition or a mechanism in place to boycott or prohibit, there are always criminal ways that will try to circumvent the prohibition or the ban,” Lagarde reportedly remarked. 

The ECB president additionally highlighted how important it is to reduce the time needed for the approval of MiCA as much as possible, in a bid to put a regulatory framework in place, within which crypto assets can actually be caught. 

The MiCA, short for Markets in Crypto Assets, reportedly put up a proposal for the creation of “a regulatory framework for the crypto-assets market that supports innovation and draws on the potential of crypto-assets in a way that preserves financial stability and protects investors.”

Initially put up as a proposal to the European Commission in September two years ago and has received a green light from the European Council in November last year, the proposal was scheduled for a vote to be implemented by the European Parliament on February 28th.

However, rapporteur Stefan Berge further updated on February 25th that he had delayed the vote due to worries related to the potential misinterpretation of a prohibition on proof-of-work crypto mining.