Key conclusions
- Binance CEO Changpen Zhao told Bloomberg that his exchange was in line with sanctions against Russian consumers.
- Zhao also claims that the stock exchange will not impose a total ban on consumers in Russia as a whole.
- Ukraine has also asked several other exchanges to ban Russian consumers, according to Coindesk reports.
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Changpen Zhao, Binance’s chief executive, outlined his cryptocurrency exchange’s policy toward Russia, arguing that a total ban on Russian consumers would be “unethical.”
Zhao says Binance is complying with the sanctions
In an interview with Bloomberg, Zhao said that Binance complies with sanctions that restrict the financial activities of Russian individuals.
He also said that extending these restrictions beyond those sanctioned would be “unethical for us”.
“I just don’t think it’s our decision to freeze user accounts,” Zhao said. He later reiterated this view, saying that “it is not for us to unilaterally freeze the bank accounts of some Russian citizens.”
Zhao also added that many Russian consumers do not support their country’s aggression against Ukraine and that “the most vulnerable groups have little influence over international affairs.” He noted that a total ban is likely to force legitimate Russian consumers to switch to smaller, less compatible trading platforms.
Zhao said that Binance follows the same rules as banks and that “at the moment … most banks follow the same list of sanctions as us.”
As to whether the sanctioned Russian oligarchs can trade anonymously on Binance, Zhao said his entire exchange relies on identity checks. Although Binance once had limited measures for KYC, the exchange increased its requirements last August.
Zhao said he personally did not know how many accounts Binance had frozen so far and said the Binance compliance team was responsible for implementation.
Binance and other exchanges follow sanctions
Earlier, Binance and its representatives made more limited statements on sanctions against Ukraine. Binance said it was “blocking the accounts of those on the sanctions list” in a statement to Reuters. He also said he would not “unilaterally freeze millions of accounts of innocent users” in a statement to CNBC.
At the time, Jesse Powell, chief executive of rival Kraken, also commented. Powell said Kraken cannot freeze consumer funds unless it is legally required to do so.
Coinbase made similar statements on Tuesday, saying it would not “impose a total ban on all Coinbase transactions involving Russian addresses.”
Ukraine has also asked six other exchanges to block Russian consumers, according to reports from Coindesk. These other exchanges include Huobi, KuCoin, Bybit, Gate.io, Whitebit and Kuna.
Disclaimer: At the time of writing, this author held less than $ 100 Bitcoins, Ethereum and Altcoins.