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With the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine, cryptocurrencies have taken a few roles, being sent as donations to aid the attacked nation but also in speculations that Russian oligarchs used such assets to bypass sanctions. However, community insiders continue to refute these allegations, and the latest to do so was FTXâs founder â Sam Bankman-Fried.
SBFâs Frustration
Itâs been almost a month since Russia launched its âspecial military operationâ against its Eastern neighbor, which turned out to be an all-out war. While the leaders of the two former Soviet states have met numerous times in attempts to resolve the conflict, actual results are yet to be seen.
Refusing to get directly involved in the situation, countless countries across the world keep imposing new sanctions on Russiaâs financial infrastructure, many of its oligarchs, and other people close to President Putin. Amid this, the word cryptocurrency became popular as some watchdogs speculated that Russiaâs elite could employ them to bypass sanctions.
Somewhat expectedly, crypto insiders were not happy about this. The CEOs of Coinbase and Ripple recently outlined their reasons why they think oligarchs canât use digital assets in such a manner. Sam Bankman-Fried, the CEO and founder of FTX, joined the pack.
âIâm very frustrated with the messaging that our industry has had on this. I think it has been basically anti-regulatory, is how itâs been perceived, and I think thatâs how it sounds, and I think that has caused a pretty big perception issue,â he commented on some exchangesâ decision not to ban Russian-based customers.
FTX and Russia
While Binance, Coinbase, FTX, Kraken, and other popular digital asset trading platforms initially said blocking Russian-based entities will be against cryptoâs nature, some had to change their stance shortly after.
This came after the US and other watchdogs introduced bills to prohibit financial entities from operating with Russian banks and customers. As reported recently, Coinbase blocked 25,000 accounts supposedly belonging to sanctions Russians.
On the other hand, Reutersâ report reaffirmed that FTX continues to allow non-sanctioned Russian users to trade, but itâs still in communication with US regulators about its operations.
âI donât think this is really about the content of the decisions. Itâs about the way that theyâve been presented.â â SBF concluded.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views of Bitcoin Insider. Every investment and trading move involves risk - this is especially true for cryptocurrencies given their volatility. We strongly advise our readers to conduct their own research when making a decision.