By
Steve Muchoki
April 23rd, 2024
The spotlight recently came on sanctioned Russian banks after they were spotted as payment options on some top crypto exchanges.
OKX and Bybit appear to have followed in the footsteps of Binance in a recent move that saw the exchanges de-list two Russian banks from their accepted payments option. As seen on both exchanges, Tinkoff Bank and Sberbank (both Russian) are no longer available for users to carry out peer-to-peer P2P transactions.
First noted by the Russian media, the update means that users of either exchange may no longer use their Tinkoff or Sberbank accounts to receive fiat money in exchange for their crypto assets. As of publication, however, there is yet to be an official statement to this effect.
OKX and Bybit Align with US Treasury Sanctions
It looks like the decisions of both crypto exchanges may have been informed by their desire to comply with the dictates of the United States Treasury. So, it is not a problem with Russian entities per se, but that of the treasury’s earlier sanctions.
Notably, OKX still allows its users to receive fiat using other Russian banks. These include the Russian Standard Bank and a Russian branch of Raiffeisen Bank. And, interestingly, both banks are not included in the sanctions list that was compiled by the United States Treasury.
Recently, the spotlight came on sanctioned Russian banks after they were spotted as payment options on some top crypto exchanges. At the time, a Wall Street Journal report claimed that Binance and many others still list Tinkoff and Sberbank as transfer methods.
Shortly after, however, Binance moved to remove both options from its P2P platform. And though, its decision may have set the precedence for others like OKX and ByBit, there is still the possibility that P2P users may privately agree on using the sanctioned banks as an exchange option.
Russia had launched an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. This caused the United States, like many other nations, to impose sanctions on the country.
On April 6, the Treasury imposed full-blocking sanctions on Sberbank, Russia’s largest state-owned bank. And more recently, in July, Tinkoff was one of 5 Russian banks that US authorities also took action against.