As More Russians Support Massacre in Ukraine, Here's How Some Big Crypto Companies Respond

cryptonews.com:

Many crypto companies are taking steps to support Ukrainian users on their platforms, but few are willing to go beyond official sanctions and ban users from Russia altogether despite shocking massacres in Ukraine and the fact that more Russians are supporting this war.

The comments on sanctions compliance and a potential ban on Russian users were reviewed by Cryptonews.com after asking a number of major crypto exchanges and other centralized crypto service providers two questions on the matter:

While many companies did reply with comments, few addressed the questions directly, and no crypto companies said they have either banned or are considering a ban on Russian users.

Among those who provided the clearest answers to the questions was the crypto exchange Bitfinex, which said it will not block access to its trading platform for “innocent Russian users.”

“Bitfinex will take appropriate action against the accounts of Russian users who have been sanctioned but the exchange has no plans to unilaterally freeze the accounts of all innocent Russian users,” the crypto exchange said in a statement, adding:

“Our view is that the actions of a Government does not necessarily represent the wishes of all of its citizens.”

Taking a similar stance, the US-based crypto exchange Kraken said that it has “always advocated for crypto on the basis that it empowers the rights and interests of the individual.”

Kraken’s statement added that,

“Freezing access to digital assets of citizens from an entire country does not necessarily punish those who are actually responsible and who may have already prepared for the possibility of blanket sanctions.” 

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for BlockFi said that the company has no client exposure in Russia, and has