" According to the Financial Times, Sergei Glazev, an economic adviser to the president, told a government meeting that the cryptocurrency would serve as a "useful tool" to evade western economic sanctions."
Why cryptocurrency would be a "useful tool" for Russia evade western economic sanction?
If only you knew the effect to security challenge if Western countries decided not to sell weapons to countries that needs it the most, or they decide to just divert it to the rebels against the current government of a country? It can tear the country apart. That's just on the basis of security. Now compare it to the effect in the case of trade embargo, trade sanctions as ordinary citizens we might not know the effect but the people who are saddled with the responsibility of ensuring the sanity of the society will have to go extra mile in ensuring the mitigating effect of such sanctions, is not devastating.
The primary reason for that is just control, today, the Western nations all have nuclear weapons but would sanction other countries that wants to have one because they control the world market, they have the technology, nations keep their foreign reserves in their currencies etc. The moment that is taken away, all those sanctions are just speeches without any effect.