Some of the world’s biggest exchanges, including Binance, Kraken, and Coinbase, have stopped short of a blanket ban on Russians, stating the action is against Bitcoin’s ethos, while some said it could also hurt citizens opposing the move by the Russian government.
Commenting on the matter, Coinbase CEO, Brian Armstrong said, “We are not preemptively banning all Russians from using Coinbase. We believe everyone deserves access to basic financial services unless the law says otherwise. Some ordinary Russians are using crypto as a lifeline now that their currency has collapsed. Many of them likely oppose what their country is doing, and a ban would hurt them, too”.
Speaking with CNBC, a spokesperson at Binance, said, “We are not going to unilaterally freeze millions of innocent users’ accounts. “Crypto is meant to provide greater financial freedom for people across the globe. To unilaterally decide to ban people’s access to their crypto would fly in the face of the reason why crypto exists.”
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