Architecture of the New Financial System: Who Wins in the Era of Decentralization | Sfornews

9 Jul, 2026
| Salome K

ARCHITECTURE OF THE NEW FINANCIAL SYSTEM: WHO WINS IN THE ERA OF DECENTRALIZATION

DISCLAIMER

This material represents an analytical review prepared by the editorial board of “Kafedra” and SforNews magazines. The material is based on open data, official documents, and public statements. It is not legal advice, investment recommendation, or call to action. The authors do not provide advice on the purchase, sale, or storage of any assets, including cryptocurrencies.

The purpose of the material is to analyze architectural changes in the global financial system, verify public narratives, and document discrepancies between declarations and reality. All conclusions are probabilistic and analytical in nature. The editorial board is not responsible for any financial or legal decisions made based on what has been read.

The material contains critical analysis of the actions of government bodies and financial institutions. It treats regulators and their followers without familiarity, but with the necessary degree of skepticism required by journalistic ethics when working with public statements affecting citizens’ rights and global economic processes.

Context: The 21st EU sanctions package, postponed until autumn, includes unprecedented measures: blocking 11 crypto platforms, banning crypto services from third countries, sanctions against 90 Russian banks [1]. This coincides with the postponement of Russian crypto legislation to September. The world is finally moving from globalization to decentralization [1].

1. RELIABLE PLATFORMS FOR CROSS-BORDER TRANSFERS: WHAT REMAINS

Official segment:

• SPFS — Russian analogue of SWIFT, operates within a limited circle of friendly countries.

• Settlements in national currencies — yuan, rupee, dirham, ruble. VTB increased its volume of operations with China by 40 times, completely switching to yuan and ruble [1].

• Digital ruble — full launch in 2026 [1].

• REC’s digital “sandbox” — for testing cryptocurrency cross-border payments in an isolated environment [1].

Grey/parallel segment (sanctions evasion):

• A7 (PSB + Ilan Shor) — the largest player in the cryptocurrency sanctions evasion market. Estimated at 15% of the entire Russian cross-border transfer market. Linked to Roman Abramovich, clients include Wildberries, S7, drone manufacturers [1].

• “Farwater Finance” and “Ruskriptotrade“ (linked to Patrushev) — transfer money through PSB with commissions up to 1.25% [1].

• “Sistema-Crypto” (AFK Sistema, Yevtushenkov) — a platform for “fast payments where currency doesn’t matter” [1].

Official Western alternative:

• World Swap (World Liberty Financial, Trump-backed) — a platform on the USD1 stablecoin, aimed at reducing fees and competing with banks [1].

2. ARCHITECTURE OF THE FUTURE FINANCIAL SYSTEM

From centralization to decentralization [1]:

Characteristic	Old System (Bretton Woods)	New System (Multipolar)
Centers	USA, London	Asia, Middle East, Russia
Currencies	US dollar as reserve currency	National currencies, stablecoins, CBDCs
Channels	SWIFT, correspondent banks	P2P networks, blockchain, crypto platforms
Control	Centralized (Fed, IMF)	Distributed (consensus algorithms)
Institutions	IMF, World Bank	BRICS, EAEU, regional unions

Architectural conclusion: Sanctions hit their initiators — they force the creation of parallel systems, which over time become full-fledged alternatives [1].

3. WHO WINS IN THE SHORT TERM (1-2 YEARS)

1. Monopoly intermediaries in sanctions evasion:

• A7 — 15% of the cross-border transfer market, dozens of shell companies, of which only 3 are under sanctions. Clients pay commissions up to 1.25%, turnover reaches hundreds of billions of rubles [1].

• Crypto exchanges — the 21st package attempts to block them, but the REC’s “sandbox” legalizes the use of crypto for cross-border payments, opening new opportunities [1].

2. Russian state banks:

• PSB — owns 49% of A7, receives commissions and control over flows [1].

• VTB — 40-fold growth in operations with China, moving away from the dollar [1].

3. Countries hosting “crypto refugees“:

• Kyrgyzstan, Hong Kong, Hungary, UAE — A7’s shell companies are registered there [1].

• Belarus — liberal crypto regulation (copytrading, airdrops, trust management) [from previous session].

4. Crypto infrastructure developers:

• Creators of stablecoins (USDT on RGB/Lightning, USD1), blockchain platforms (Ethereum with “Lean Ethereum”), hardware solutions.

4. HOW EVENTS WILL DEVELOP CONSIDERING GLOCALIZATION

Phase 1 (2026-2027): “Crypto sandboxes” and grey legalization

• Russia launches crypto experiments through the REC [1].

• Banks (Sber, VTB, T-Bank) create their own crypto depositories and wallets [from previous session].

• The 21st EU package temporarily blocks crypto platforms but cannot close P2P channels.

Phase 2 (2027-2028): Birth of parallel payment systems

• Russia + BRICS create their own payment infrastructure based on CBDCs and blockchain [1].

• The digital ruble becomes a settlement instrument with friendly countries [1].

• Tether and other stablecoins migrate to Bitcoin (RGB/Lightning), creating an unblockablesettlement network [from previous session].

Phase 3 (2028-2030): “Crypto Cold War”

• Two ecosystems: Western (MiCA, licensed CASP providers) and Eastern (decentralized P2P networks, state bank crypto depositories).

• Institutional investors are forced to choose: either play by MiCA rules or move to decentralized protocols.

5. KEY PARADOX

Sanctions hit those who impose them.

Western regulators are trying to strangle Russian crypto flows, but in response, a parallel infrastructure is being created that:

• Does not depend on SWIFT and the dollar.

• Uses cryptocurrencies and stablecoins.

• Operates through jurisdictions that do not recognize sanctions (Kyrgyzstan, Hong Kong, UAE).

Architectural conclusion: The harsher the sanctions, the faster the alternative is built. In thelong term, the winners are:

• Decentralized protocols (Bitcoin, Ethereum) — they become the settlement network for everyone denied SWIFT.

• Intermediaries in friendly jurisdictions — they take commissions from every bypass.

• Stablecoin creators — they gain a new sales market.

• States that have built crypto infrastructure — they gain financial sovereignty [1].

SUMMARY: ARCHITECTURE OF THE NEW REALITY

What remains reliable	What is being destroyed
SPFS + settlements in national currencies	SWIFT + dollar
State bank crypto depositories	Correspondent banks in the US/EU
P2P crypto transfers (RGB/Lightning)	Licensed exchanges under MiCA
“Sandboxes” and experimental regimes	Uniform global regulation

Main conclusion: Sanctions will not stop cross-border flows. They will change their routes. Those who build infrastructure for new routes earlier will win. Those who try to control what by definition cannot be controlled — decentralized protocols — will lose.

The material was prepared by the editorial board of “Kafedra” and SforNews magazines based on open sources. When citing, a link to the original source is mandatory.

More analytics — at Sfornews (https://sfornews.com/)