Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has announced that it will deactivate the accounts of its major clients in Russia in order to comply with the new package of sanctions decided by the European Union against Russia.
The issue of the increased use of crypto by Russians in recent weeks to circumvent sanctions and move funds overseas had been of great concern to Western authorities and the EU has tried to address the problem through the fifth package of sanctions announced days ago. The new package also targets digital wallets, which are used to conduct cryptocurrency transactions by Russians.
Leading crypto exchanges had so far resisted pressure to block the accounts of Russian users, given that their turnover and profits were colossal.
Small accounts will be maintained
Following the new sanctions, Binance has informed its users who are of Russian nationality and live in Russia, as well as its corporate customers, who hold accounts over 10,000 euros ($10,900) that they will not be able to conduct transactions or make deposits from now on.
They will, however, be able to withdraw their funds.
Accounts that are checked after confirmation that they are linked to Russian users and hold less than 10,000 euros will remain active.
In this way, the exchange claims that it will comply with the sanctions and the intention to crack down on oligarchs’ money laundering, but it will not “freeze the accounts of millions of ordinary users”.
After all, already since last month the company has “cut off” the use to credit card holders of Russian banks on the list of international sanctions.
