Binance and Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange, refuse to sanction Russian people
Russia is home to several of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges
Coinbase Global Inc and Binance, two cryptocurrency exchanges, said on Friday that they have no intentions to prevent all Russians from using their services.
Some of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges are remaining in Russia, defying conventional finance in a move that analysts believe hurts Western efforts to isolate Moscow in the aftermath of the invasion of Ukraine.
In a series of tweets on Friday, Coinbase Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong stated, “We believe everyone deserves access to basic financial services unless the law states differently.”
In an emailed response to Reuters, a representative for Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, stated, “We are not going to unilaterally suspend millions of innocent consumers’ accounts.”
Both bitcoin exchanges have declared they will comply with government sanctions.
The announcements come days after Coinbase and Binance stated they would not freeze all Russian accounts in response to Ukraine’s request for a blanket ban from major crypto exchanges.
For invading Ukraine, Western countries like as the United States and the United Kingdom have placed extensive financial penalties on Russia, including the exclusion of major Russian institutions from the SWIFT international payments system. Russia’s efforts in Ukraine are referred to as a “special operation.”
Since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the greatest attack on a European state since World War Two last Thursday, tens of thousands of people are thought to have been dead or injured, and over one million refugees have fled Ukraine.
