Ukraine wants to crack down on Russian crypto users, with mixed reactions from multiple platforms

The Ukrainian government escalated its rhetoric against Russian cryptocurrency users on Sunday, saying it was time to “target ordinary users for sabotage.”

Ukraine’s deputy prime minister said he asked “all major cryptocurrency exchanges to block addresses of Russian users.” He had earlier sought information about digital wallets linked to Russian and Belarusian politicians, saying the Ukrainian cryptocurrency community was ready to offer a “generous reward” to anyone who provided clues.

In response to the call by Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, some of the exchange’s CEOs have publicly expressed their support for Ukraine since the war began.

According to Bloomberg, in response to Western countries imposing sanctions on Russia, Binance said: "We have formed a dedicated global compliance task force, including world-renowned sanctions experts, and are taking the necessary measures to ensure that we take action against those sanctioned while minimizing the impact on innocent users."

Public Mint, a synthetic asset platform, announced that several countries are imposing economic sanctions on Russia. In order to comply with the relevant requirements, the accounts of Russian and Belarusian residents are temporarily prohibited from making fiat currency deposits and withdrawals.

In addition, DMarket, a platform for trading NFT and in-game metaverse items, announced that as a startup born in Ukraine, it has decided to cut off all ties with Russia and Belarus: Russian and Belarusian users are prohibited from registering on the platform; previously registered user accounts in these regions are frozen; all assets and skins remain in the user account, but access to their use is currently restricted; the platform no longer supports the Russian ruble. If someone's account is frozen by mistake, or if they are not a citizen of Russia or Belarus, please confirm through KYC and the platform will reopen their account.

However, apart from the above platforms, as of press time, the "request" of the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister has not received a positive response from other crypto communities.

It is worth mentioning that Kraken CEO Jesse Powell responded that I understand the reasons for this request, but although I have deep respect for the Ukrainian people, we cannot freeze the accounts of our Russian customers without a legal requirement. The hardest thing about having power is knowing when not to use it. Putting individual needs above the needs of any government or political faction better fulfills our mission. The people's money is humanity's exit strategy and a weapon of peace, not a weapon of war. If we were to voluntarily freeze the financial accounts of residents of countries that have unjustly attacked and provoked violence around the world, the first step would be to freeze all US accounts. In reality, this is not really a viable business option for us.

Previously, Kraken CEO had pointed out that Bitcoin is trying to solve "real world problems" and provide people with an alternative to the increasingly restrictive fiat currency system. Supporting Bitcoin is "a vote for freedom."