After the recent sanctions against Russia, there has been a lot of discussion about the country’s residents and the use of cryptocurrencies. It was a matter of curiosity whether crypto money exchanges would be included in these sanctions.
Coinbase announced in a blog post on March 7 that it is developing a multi-layered, worldwide enforcement program. The company announced that it has blocked access to more than 25,000 addresses related to Russian individuals engaged in illegal activities.
“Today, Coinbase blocks more than 25,000 addresses associated with Russian individuals or entities we believe are engaged in illegal activities, many of which we have identified through our own proactive investigations.”
The company also reported that it shared these addresses with the US government to “support the enforcement of sanctions.”
Alongside these, Coinbase emphasized that the transactions are public, once recorded, they remain immutable, preventing malicious people from hiding information to avoid detection.
The move comes days after the Coinbase CEO said he would abide by sanctions against Russia.
Is Russia evading sanctions with crypto?
The question has been raised whether cryptocurrencies can be used to evade the sanctions imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But in the current situation, the Russian government and other sanctioned entities will need massive amounts of digital assets that are nearly impossible to obtain in order to effectively circumvent the sanctions.
Russia’s lack of liquidity, anonymity and crypto exchanges are subject to anti-money laundering rules, making it unlikely to overcome sanctions using crypto.