Following the most recent round of EU sanctions, a number of cryptocurrency exchanges, including international platforms, did not impose any new limitations on Russian users, according to Russian crypto media. In an effort to put more pressure on Russia in the midst of an intensifying conflict in Ukraine, the latest European sanctions target a variety of crypto-related services.
Major Exchanges Continue to Work in Russia Following EU’s Ban on Crypto Services
Last week, the European Union passed a wide range of sanctions with the intention of putting more pressure on Russia’s administration, economy, and trade. The eighth package of EU restrictions forbade the provision of any cryptocurrency wallet, account, or custody services to Russian citizens or entities in addition to other measures.
A number of cryptocurrency exchanges have not yet complied with the European requirements, according to a report from the crypto page of the top Russian business news portal RBC, despite the fact that some companies in the sector have already suspended operations with Russian accounts in response to the situation.
One of them is Binance, the largest digital asset exchange in the world by daily trading volume, which, according to its support service, hasn’t released an official statement regarding the new sanctions and is still conducting business as usual. The EU’s fifth round of restrictions, which only applied to “high-value” crypto services, forced Binance to restrict services for accounts with balances above €10,000 ($11,000 at the time).
The most popular American cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, complies with the previous European crypto sanctions, while U.S.-based Kraken did not impose restrictions on Russians in the spring and has not made any announcements regarding changes in response to the new set of EU regulations.
Customers from the Russian Federation are not subject to any restrictions on the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which is registered in the island state of Antigua and Barbuda. The same holds true for Garantex, another well-known platform in Russia that still engages Russian traders.
In response to EU sanctions, the Seychelles-registered Huobi Global, Okx, Kucoin, and Mexc Global have not restricted Russian accounts, and the Singapore-registered Bybit has informed the publication that it will not impose sanctions against Russians.
A regional leader in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, Exmo is a U.K.-based cryptocurrency exchange that sold its Russian operations, along with the rights to the Exmo.me domain and branding, to a local vendor in late April. Exmo.me still enables cryptocurrency trading in Russia and its close partners, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
According to some, cryptocurrency can be used by Russians to export wealth and get around financial sanctions. In Moscow, the idea of legalizing international cryptocurrency transfers has gained traction, and the local government has been working to enact regulations. The EU’s decision to tighten the crypto restrictions may encourage the growth of Russia’s own market for digital assets, according to a recent statement by Anatoly Aksakov, the chairman of the parliamentary Financial Market Committee.