Crypto exchanges consider Ukraine’s call to freeze Russians’ Bitcoin
As the West continues to impose more sanctions against Russian banks following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, one Ukrainian official has called for sanctions on Russians’ cryptocurrency holdings as well.
Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation, took to Twitter on Sunday to urge the global cryptocurrency exchanges to block addresses of Russian users.
He emphasized that exchanges should freeze not only the addresses tied to Russia and Belarus officially but also to “sabotage ordinary users.”
I'm asking all major crypto exchanges to block addresses of Russian users. It's crucial to freeze not only the addresses linked to Russian and Belarusian politicians, but also to sabotage ordinary users.
Fedorovsubsequently pointed out that some industry-related services have already moved to freeze assets from Russia and Belarus, including the nonfungible token platform DMarket.
“Funds from these accounts could be donated to the war effort. Nowadays Robin Hoods. Bravo,” Fedorov stated. He also cited the ongoing measures taken by the social media giant Meta regarding Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
Ukrainian-born startup DMarket cuts all relationships with Russia and Belarus due to the invasion of Ukraine. - The registration on the platform is prohibited for users from Russia and Belarus;- Accounts of previously registered users from these areas are frozen;
Fedorov’s appeals could potentially be catastrophic for the Russian cryptocurrency market, as Russians were estimated to hold more than $200 billion in crypto as of early February.
As the Russian ruble has been plummeting against the U.S. dollar and the euro, Russians have been increasingly cashing out their bank holdings and apparently considering crypto investments. As
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