Bitfinex refuses to freeze crypto belonging to non-sanctioned Russians

cointelegraph.com:

Amid global businesses boycotting the Russian residents over military conflict in Ukraine, some companies in the cryptocurrency industry stand up for the rights of non-sanctioned Russian citizens.

Bitfinex, an affiliate firm of the world’s largest stablecoin provider, Tether (USDT), will not unilaterally freeze the accounts of ordinary Russian customers as part of the global sanctions unless it's forced to do so, a spokesperson for Bitfinex told Cointelegraph on Thursday.

The representative emphasized that Bitfinex has taken appropriate action against the accounts of Russian users who have been sanctioned. “As with all our customer accounts, we work to ensure that there are no irregular movements or measures that might be in contravention of applicable international sanctions,” the spokesperson noted.

According to Bitfinex, blocking all ordinary Russians over the ongoing conflict may be unfair on a human level as the actions of governments may not speak for individuals, the spokesperson said:

The representative declined to comment on Bitfinex’s market in Russia, only stating that “Bitfinex does serve Russian customers.”

At the time of writing, Bitfinex’s terms of service read that a “sanctioned person” refers to any person or a digital token address that is either listed explicitly in any sanctions list directly or indirectly owned 50% or more by any person or group of persons in the aggregate with such person. The sanctioned person on Bitfinex also refers to a person that is subject to any government approval or otherwise sanctioned, restricted, or penalized under applicable economic sanctions, the legal statement notes.

Launched back in 2012, Bitfinex is one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, with daily trading volumes