Latest news about Bitcoin and all cryptocurrencies. Your daily crypto news habit.
Binance has stepped up its measure in compliance with sanctions against senior Russian officials and their direct relatives by terminating several accounts linked to the top officials responsible for the war against Ukraine. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) restated the importance of implementing such legal obligations to live up to the companyâs commitments.
Binance Takes a Proactive Stance on Targeted Accounts
Binance shut down the account by Elizaveta Peskova, the daughter of Russian President Vladimir Putinâs spokesman Dmitry Peskov, as early as March 3rd â over a week sooner than the US authorities included the 24-year-old as part of the âKremlin elitesâ subject to a new series of sanctions. Peskova subsequently claimed innocence, saying she got nothing to do with the situation.
The list of Russian individuals being blocked from accessing Binanceâs services includes Polina Kovaleva, the stepdaughter of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and Kirill Malofeyev, the son of Konstantin Malofeyev, a Russian oligarch who has been sanctioned by the US, EU, and Canada since 2014. CZ tweeted âagainst war, not the people,â commenting on the companyâs proactive move of terminating Peskovaâs account.
Binanceâs global head of sanctions, Chagri Poyraz, has expressed his support for such a move taken by Binance to further prevent sanctioned entities and individuals from accessing its platform. According to Bloombergâs reportage, he noted that the company had strengthened its arm for monitoring people associated with sanctioned subjects.
âWhatâs different is that our compliance screen operations are âproactive,â aiming to detect and deter financial crime risk before any regulatory or legal action towards these individuals or entities.â
Binance in Compliance with Legal Requirements
As the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, Binanceâs latest action against accounts tied to Kremlinâs top officials has demonstrated that major centralized platforms are acting in compliance with legal requirements imposed by governments.
To be in line with the fifth wave of sanctions introduced by the European Union toward Russia, Binance made changes to its policy a week ago. The company limited services for âRussian nationals or natural persons residing in Russia, or legal entities established in Russia, that have crypto assets exceeding the value of 10,000 EUR.â People subject to the restriction will need to complete proof-of-address verification.
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.