By
Steve Muchoki
May 10th, 2024
Ukrainians are making several moves in response to the devastating war in their country, as such, they are seeking to launch a financial attack on Russia as a way to fight back.
The past few days have been moments of tension for the Ukrainians as they’ve been faced with many axes to grind following Russia’s attack on the nation. It appears that the tension induced by the attacks is almost getting to a breaking point as Ukraine is making efforts to attack the finances of Russian citizens in defense of their country.
According to a recent report, the vice Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, Mykhailo Fedorov had taken to Twitter requesting all crypto exchanges to block the accounts of Russian users. Fedorov’s tweet reads:
“I’m asking all major crypto exchanges to block addresses of Russian users….It’s crucial to freeze not only the addresses linked to Russian and Belarusian politicians, but also to sabotage ordinary users.”
Binance and Kraken Decline Ukraine’s Pleas
Ukrainians are making several moves in response to the devastating war in their country, as such, they are seeking to launch a financial attack on Russia as a way to fight back. Unfortunately, it appears that the country might not be getting the necessary support to effectively execute its plans as a CNBC report reveals that two major exchanges have expressed disagreements with Ukraine’s pleas.
In response to Ukraine’s request, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance expressed contrary moves while noting that the company will not unilaterally freeze the accounts of all Russian users but will block the accounts of Russian individuals who have been sanctioned.
A representative from the Binance team explained this saying:
“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.”
As much as these exchanges might want to support Ukraine to release some tensions, it appears regulatory stances are pulling them back from cooperating with Ukraine.
Another top-rated cryptocurrency exchange, Kraken seems to be on the same page with Binance as the CEO of the company took to Twitter to reply to Fedorov’s tweet while expressing disagreements to the pleas except there is legal backing.
“I understand the rationale for this request but, despite my deep respect for the Ukrainian people, @krakenfx cannot freeze the accounts of our Russian clients without a legal requirement to do so,” wrote Jesse Powell.
However, he further warned that Russians should be aware that such a requirement could be imminent.