Binance digital asset exchange has blocked accounts that were linked to Moscow-based relatives. Amid mounting international penalties over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the trading platform said it will continue to check for users associated with sanctioned individuals.
Crypto Exchange Binance Denies Children to Top Russian Figures
Binance, the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, has blocked several accounts linked to relatives of some high-ranking members of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s administration, Bloomberg reported. As sanctions continue to pour on Russia, in response to the military aggression on Ukraine, this move is significant.
Since the Russian soldiers crossed into Ukraine’s border, two users were denied access: the stepdaughter, Polina Kuvaleva and Elizaveta Peskova.
Binance also expelled Kirill Malofeev from the country, who is the son of Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeev. Washington accuses him of supporting pro-Russian separatists inside Ukraine. Malofeev is an American and EU sanctioned list member and is wanted by Kyiv authorities because of his participation in the conflict in the Donbas.
After Binance had in April restricted services for Russian users, the news about the shut down accounts follows the approval of new sanctions by the European Union. The restrictions apply to Russian nationals, residents and legal entities that have crypto assets exceeding €10,000 ($10,800) in value on the platform.
In early March, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said that the exchange was freezing the accounts of sanctioned Russian individuals but insisted that blocking all Russians would be “unethical.” At the same time, the executive dismissed concerns that cryptocurrencies could help Moscow circumvent western sanctions.
Binance said it stopped Peskova when she tried to access the exchange through third-party brokerages on March 3. According to the report, she was sanctioned by U.S. Treasury Department on the week following.
Kovaleva’s account was shuttered on March 24, the day she was sanctioned by the U.K. Malofeev was designated by the U.S. Treasury on April 20 and had his Binance accounts blocked this week, the company added.
The crypto exchange will continue its efforts to identify other people connected to sanctioned individuals, the platform’s global head of sanctions assured. “What’s different is that our compliance screen operations are ‘proactive,’ aiming to detect and deter financial crime risk before any regulatory or legal action towards these individuals or entities,” Chagri Poyraz has been quoted as stating.
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