U.S. Department of the Treasury has detected a rise in the use of digital assets for illicit transactions since Feb. 24 – when the Ukraine invasion began. Economists and foreign policy experts have long warned that Russia could resort to blockchain-enabled transactions to either funnel oligarch money or attempt to revive its economy. A Treasury official says the volume is too insignificant to aid Moscow in skirting the United States’ designations against Russian banking, its oligarchs and high-ranking officials. Lawmakers continue to express concern about the potential abuse of blockchain technology.”]