Crypto exchanges are considering the blocking of Russian accounts because the sanctions intensify
Crypto exchanges are considering the blocking of Russian accounts because the sanctions intensify
- Cryptocurrency exchanges that are not based in the USA are exposed to the pressure of legislators around the world to ensure compliance with Russian sanctions
- The lock of all accounts would violate the founding principles of cryptocurrency, said Binance
Since countries around the world continue to impose sanctions that aim to isolate the Russian economy from the global financial system, cryptocurrency exchanges are exposed to the pressure of governments and supporters in industry to clear up concerns about the violation of sanctions.
increasingly aggressive sanctions, including the department of the treasury blocking the Russian central bank Transactions in US dollars and the freezing of Russian financial investments by Switzerland are the question of legislators and industry representatives as to whether Russian companies will turn to cryptocurrency in order to avoid the judgment.
"A US company that uses crypto to avoid sanctions with Russia violates US laws. It is that simple," said Yankun Guo, partner at Ice Miller. "It is plausible that certain companies will try to bypass sanctions through the use of crypto ... Only those companies who are willing to take the risk of a violation of sanctions will probably do so."
Mykhailo Fedorov, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister for Digital Transformation of Ukraine, advocated the exchange of cryptocurrencies to block the addresses of Russian users in A Twitter.
The cryptocurrency exchange Binance, which currently does not have an official headquarters, will "take the necessary steps to ensure that we were imposed against those action against which sanctions were imposed," a spokesman told Blockworks on Monday. However, a flat -rate block of all accounts is not possible. "We will not freep the accounts of millions of innocent users unilaterally," said the spokesman. "Crypto is supposed to offer people around the world more financial freedom. To one -sidedly decide to prohibit people from accessing their crypto, the reason why crypto exists." The stock exchange monitors the current sanctions and will adhere to all sanctions imposed in the future, the speaker added. Binance also terminated a minimum of 10 million dollar to Interior organizations and non -profit organizations in Ukraine on Monday. The Bahamas based FTX is pursuing a similar approach and "plans to continue to comply with the laws in relation to sanctioned countries," a spokesman told Blockworks. "FTX does not serve Fiat with Russian banks," Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of FTX, told Blockworks. "If there were sanctioned people at FTX, we would have taken measures, but we cannot comment on who has FTX accounts or not."
The sanctions are increased, since the trading volume between Bitcoin and the Russian ruble reached a nine -month high according to data from the cryptocurrency research company Kaiko. cited by bloomberg . The volume of the most popular BTC/RUB trading couple, which can be found on the Binance exchange, shows an increase in the past week that has not been observed since mid-May 2021. . . The contribution "Crypto exchanges weigh the blocking of Russian accounts with increasing sanctions" is not financial advice.
