Ukraine’s deputy prime minister and minister of digital transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, has urged cryptocurrency exchanges to freeze the accounts of both Russian and Belarusian users.
Fedorov made this request on Twitter on February 27, after several days of intense fighting in Ukraine after Russian forces invaded the country last week. Fedorov said:
“I ask all major crypto exchanges to block addresses of Russian users. It is very important not only to freeze addresses linked to Russian and Belarusian politicians, but also to sabotage ordinary users.”
Jesse Powell, CEO of Kraken, one of the largest stock exchanges in the world, said that such a move could not be made “without a legal obligation”, but added that Russian users should be aware that such a request is coming.
In a later tweet, Fedorov stated that the NFT platform DMarket has a strong presence in Russia and Belarus. lauded his move to freeze customer accounts. DMarket confirmed this on Twitter a few hours ago, noting that the assets remain in users’ accounts but their access is limited.
The Russian ruble hit a record low this morning, sparking fears that a bank might fail in the country.
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