Sam Bankman-Fried, Founder and CEO of FTX, is dissatisfied with the perception that the crypto industry is giving Russia a pass despite admist the sanctions put on the country.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, cryptocurrencies have been used in a variety of ways, most notably as donations to help Ukraine defend its territory. However, there are rumours that Russian oligarchs are adopting cryptocurrency to avoid sanctions. Sam Bankman-Fried is among several in the cryptocurrency business who vigorously refute the charges.
He claims that the bitcoin industry is being portrayed incorrectly as a way for Russians to get by without paying the punishment.
The Ukrainian conflict has entered its fourth week, but several countries around the world have declined to get actively engaged in order to avoid another world war.
Several countries and international organisations, however, have implemented restrictions on Russia’s financial infrastructure in order to force the country to stop fighting. However, some officials believe that Russia and its billionaires are increasingly using cryptocurrency to circumvent sanctions.
This has annoyed not only Sam Bankman-Fried, but also the CEOs of Ripple and Coinbase. Both executives emphasized in a recent address to the issues that Russian oligarchs cannot use cryptocurrency in this manner.
Previously, crypto exchanges such as Kraken, FTX, Binance, and Coinbase argued that prohibiting Russian-based firms would be contrary to the nature of cryptocurrency. Some of them, however, have now reversed their attitude and joined other platforms in blocking access to Russian-based consumers.
This followed the introduction of a bill by authorities that prohibits financial organisations from doing business with Russian customers and Russian financial institutions. Coinbase blocked over 25,000 accounts belonging to sanctioned Russians in response to the demand.
Non-sanctioned Russians, on the other hand, have been permitted to trade on FTX, but the exchange is still deliberating with regulators over its activities.
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