Cryptocurrency exchanges decline request by Ukraine to block Russian accounts – SiliconANGLE

Major cryptocurrency exchanges have rejected a request from the Ukrainian government to suspend accounts belonging to Russian citizens.

The request came from Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's deputy prime minister and minister for digital transformation, who said "it is crucial to freeze not only addresses linked to Russian and Belarusian politicians, but also to sabotage ordinary users."

The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, was the first to decline, saying today that "we are not going to unilaterally freeze the accounts of millions of innocent users."

“Crypto is meant to bring greater financial freedom to people around the world,” Binance said. “Deciding unilaterally to ban people from your crypto would go against the very reason crypto exists. However, we are taking the necessary steps to ensure that we take action against those who were penalized while minimizing the impact to innocent users.”

Binance added that if the sanctions were to be extended, they would apply them aggressively. the company too Announced that he was donating a minimum of $10 million to help the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine through his Binance Charity Foundation. The money will be split between UNICEF, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, iSans and People in Need.

Both Coinbase Global Inc. and Kraken, the second and fourth largest and the first and second largest cryptocurrency exchanges based in the US, also rejected Ukraine's request.

A Coinbase spokesperson I told him to decipher that "a unilateral and total ban would punish ordinary Russian citizens who are enduring historic currency destabilization as a result of their government's aggression against a democratic neighbor."

Kraken CEO Jesse Powell responded directly to Fedorov On twittersaying that Kraken "cannot freeze the accounts of our Russian customers without a legal requirement to do so."

FTX Digital Markets Inc., the world's third-largest exchange, has apparently not commented on Ukraine's request but has expressed support for the country. CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said on February 25 that the company had donated $25 to each of its Ukrainian users.

While large cryptocurrency exchanges rejected the request, non-fungible token marketplace DMarket Inc. blocked clients in Russia and Belarus. Although DMarket is based in California, the company was started by and is still owned by Ukrainian citizens, which makes the decision understandable.

Image: Binance