Officials in the United States also expect that crypto exchanges, regardless of their location, will block sanctioned persons.
The US government has issued a warning to cryptocurrency exchanges not to assist transactions for individuals and businesses that have recently been added to its sanctions list.
As part of a continuous attempt to censure Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, the Treasury Department announced new restrictions. It prohibits Americans from providing any support to certain Russian oligarchs and businesses. This will go into effect on March 1st.
Any and all property and interests in property that are or will be brought into the United States, or that are or will come into the possession or control of any United States person of the following persons, are blocked and may not be transferred; paid; exported; withdrawn; or otherwise dealt in deceptive transactions or dealings to circumvent any United States sanctions, including through the use of digital currencies or assets.”
The World Comes Down on Russia
Russian authorities and President Vladimir Putin are under sanctions from the United States and other countries. This followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last week. Russia’s central bank, as well as the country’s major commercial and state banks, are the target of these sanctions. These include the seizure of their abroad assets.
The group of countries also stated that several of Russia’s top banks will leave SWIFT. The interbank messaging network underpins much of the global financial system.
The restrictions announced on Monday, are only applicable to organizations based in the United States. According to Bloomberg, US officials are also pushing crypto exchanges around the world to prevent Russian organizations from dodging sanctions by using cryptocurrency.
Binance Decision
Officials from the Treasury Department have already requested that Binance, FTX, and Coinbase prohibit sanctioned individuals and addresses. Binance and FTX are based outside of the US.
Despite entreaties from Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, Binance and several other exchanges have openly said that they will not prohibit all Russian users or IP addresses.
Binance may be willing to restrict wallets belonging to individuals on the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Controls sanctions list, according to Bloomberg.
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