Several cryptocurrency exchanges have refused to freeze accounts connected to Russia-based cryptocurrency transactions.
The exchanges denied a request from Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov to freeze all Russian accounts as part of a larger series of government and corporate sanctions against Russia due to the war in Ukraine.
“At this time, we will not institute a blanket ban on all Coinbase transactions involving Russian addresses,” a Coinbase spokesperson told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday. “Instead, we will continue to implement all sanctions that have been imposed, including blocking accounts and transactions that may involve sanctioned individuals or entities.”
MONACO THREATENS TO SEIZE OLIGARCHS’ YACHTS, OTHER ASSETS AMID UKRAINE WAR
Binance, the crypto exchange with the most users, also declined to impose a blanket lockout on Russian accounts.
“We are not going to unilaterally freeze millions of innocent users’ accounts,” a Binance spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. “Crypto is meant to provide greater financial freedom for people across the globe. To unilaterally decide to ban people’s access to their crypto would fly in the face of the reason why crypto exists. However, we are taking the steps necessary to ensure we take action against those that have had sanctions levied against them while minimizing impact to innocent users. Should the international community widen those sanctions further, we will apply those aggressively as well.”
Jesse Powell, the CEO and co-founder of Kraken Exchange, said in a Twitter thread that Bitcoin “is the embodiment of libertarian values, which strongly favor individualism and human rights” and argued that it places individual needs above those of any government official.
Fedorov argued in a tweet Sunday that “it’s crucial to freeze not only the addresses linked to Russian and Belarusian politicians but also to sabotage ordinary users.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
While cryptocurrencies have been used to keep Russians afloat amid the tanking of the Russian ruble, they have also been integral to funding Ukrainian efforts to resist the Russian invasion. More than $22 million in cryptocurrency donations were made to one digital wallet since the Ukrainian government promoted it on Saturday.
