How crypto execs react to economic sanctions against Russia?

As the West and America tighten their economic sanctions on Russia, concerns have emerged about how this will affect the cryptocurrency market.

The country has been largely cut off from the SWIFT international payment system, and businesses in the United States and other Western nations are banned from doing business or transacting with Russian banks and the national wealth fund.

Executives at crypto exchanges have weighed in on the sanctions and their possible effects. The CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, went on Twitter to voice his opinion on the subject. He claimed that most banks adhere to sanctions rules and crypto exchanges like Binance also follow them.

https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1499305766779592706?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Brad Garlighouse, the CEO of Ripple, also slammed the allegations that Russia may use cryptocurrencies to get around economic sanctions. On Twitter, Ripple’s CEO described the procedures for establishing a cryptocurrency exchange, stating that worldwide crypto trading platforms rely on a variety of banking partners who risk losing their licenses if a blocked country or individual breaks through all necessary security measures to conduct transactions on these platforms.

Garlinghouse said that cryptocurrency exchanges have implemented stringent measures such as those requiring customers to comply with KYC/AML standards to avoid such undesirable scenarios from occurring. 

Garlinghouse’s comments echo those made by Asheesh Birla, Ripple’s General Manager, who argued that because crypto transactions are getting increasingly traceable by the government and software, Russia will be unable to utilize it to get around these financial restrictions.

Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, also articulates this viewpoint and believes that cryptocurrencies are not a way to avoid sanctions. According to him, every U.S. firm must comply with the law; it makes no difference whether they engage in “dollars, crypto gold, real estate,” or any other type of non-financial asset. Sanctions rules are applied equally to all companies and individuals, according to Armstrong.

However, the Coinbase CEO emphasized that Coinbase is not “preemptively” banning all Russian users from using it since everyone deserves access to basic financial services “unless the law says otherwise.” However, Russia is not listed on Coinbase’s supported regions.

Related: Experts reject concerns Russia will use crypto to bypass sanctions: ‘Totally unfounded’

A Coinbase representative told Cointelegraph the company is committed to following through with all sanctions that have been imposed, including “blocking accounts and transactions that may involve sanctioned individuals or entities.”

The exchange noted it will not “extrajudicially” implement a blanket ban on all non-sanctioned Coinbase transactions. According to the Coinbase representative, the exchange is taking various measures to remain in compliance with the most recent sanctions.