Putin is turning the threat of U.S. sanctions against Russian oligarchs into an opportunity to strengthen his own connections with the wealthy.

Putin is doing so by pushing for an asset repatriation agenda, whereby Russian's overseas assets may be brought back home via the creation of a new capital amnesty program. In total, the overseas assets of wealthy Russians add up to approximately $1 trillion, or 75% of Russia's national income. Putin is also considering issuing special bonds that will enable the wealthy to preserve their dollar assets outside of the U.S. Treasury's grasp. Some commentators suspect that the U.S. sanctions may be personally harming Putin himself, who will be unable to maneuver his own overseas assets if they are passed.

Putin's repatriation proposals come in response to an American law passed in August 2017 that called for a blacklist of oligarchs and their companies, and threatened to impose further penalties if necessary. The law also recommended that a research study be conducted on the economic impact of banning American investors from purchasing sovereign Russian bonds, creating a web of implications for future government action. The U.S. government knows that pushing forward with such a blacklist ban would complicate the Russian government's borrowing plans.

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To counteract the potential economic damages that such a ban may cause, Russians are considering creating a state-sponsored "crypto ruble." Given its global sanctions, Russian businesspeople are especially attracted to ability of cryptocurrencies to operate outside of government-controlled spheres. However, cryptocurrencies are founded on the idea of decentralization. On the collective blockchain computer network, no central authority is in charge. It is unclear if a state-controlled cryptocurrency will enjoy the same success as those that are not regulated.

Interestingly enough, cryptocurrencies have not been wholly positively received by Russia. In the past, Putin has spoken of the opportunities cryptocurrency can present for "laundering illegal gains, tax evasion, and even financing of terrorism," and creating fodder for everyday scams. The Russian communications minister Nikolai Nikiforov maintains that a crypto ruble, if one is ever created, will differ from Bitcoin in several major ways, with one being the removal of the mining process.

The ultimate state-driven goal for a crypto ruble will be to simplify the process whereby the Russian government can keep track of and tax its business transactions with international partners, including in countries that have placed sanctions on Russia.