The CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), stated that their exchange complies with Russian user sanctions. Blocking all Russian accounts would be ‘unethical.’
CZ said in an interview with Bloomberg why Binance should not prohibit all Russian clients. “, he explained.
“It’s not our decision to make to freeze user accounts. Also, from an ethical point of view, many Russians don’t support the war, so we should separate the politicians from the normal people.”
He mentioned other significant sites, such as Facebook and Google, as examples, claiming that they did not ban Russian users and respected regulators’ requirements.
Binance is “strictly following the sanction guidelines, and anyone on the penalty list cannot utilize our exchange,” according to CZ.
This is accomplished through comprehensive user verification checks that guarantee sanctioned crypto addresses cannot transact on the site and are entirely barred.
He also stated that evading financial sanctions by Russians is not a “crypto-specific issue” and that banks and crypto firms follow the same standards.
When questioned if sanctioned Russian oligarchs may trade anonymously on the Binance platform, Zhao stated that the company relies on identification verification. Last August, the exchange strengthened its KYC requirements.
Binance and other exchanges follow sanctions
Binance had previously refused to comply with the request of the Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister to freeze the accounts of “ordinary” Russians.
Binance will not “unilaterally block millions of innocent consumers’ accounts,” according to a representative for the crypto exchange, according to Reuters. The spokesperson went on to say,
“Crypto was created to provide individuals all across the world more financial independence.”
Until recently, Binance has banned the accounts of Russian users who have been sanctioned. At the same time, Kraken exchange CEO Jesse Powell weighed in on the situation, saying that the company would only freeze customer assets if it were legally forced to do so.
Coinbase said on Tuesday that it “would not put a blanket restriction on all Coinbase transactions with Russian addresses.”
Putin’s actions have put a mountain of struggle not just for Ukrainians but also for fellow Russians. Dropping bombs and putting the lives of innocent people at stake is slowly backfiring.