The Ukrainian government continues to demand that more severe sanctions be imposed on Russia. Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov urged crypto exchanges to freeze addresses linked to Russia and Belarus.
Federov shared his views on the subject in a tweet, and the minister thinks that sanctions should be imposed not only on politicians in both countries, but also on all citizens. According to Ukraine’s concerns cryptocurrencyThey can help to circumvent the sanctions imposed on Russia.
“I ask all major crypto exchanges to block addresses of Russian users.”
Communities and people around the world continue to do their part to pressure Russia to end its occupation of Ukraine. The USA and European Union (EU) countries took action to paralyze the Russian economy with various measures.
These include freezing the assets of Russia’s central banks and issuing Russian domestic banks for the international financial route SWIFT.
However, concerns were raised that the Russian government, banks, and billionaires could easily circumvent these sanctions with crypto. This is interpreted as a possible possibility, especially since blockchain technology aims to be permissionless and neutral to such cases.
Experts noted that it is not unthinkable that Russia could easily develop tools to allow its trade using crypto. Through the CBDC that Russia plans to launch, it could also help avoid sanctions if other countries agree to trade with it.
Currently, no major crypto exchanges have announced their plans to impose sanctions on Russia or Belarus. DMarkets, a Ukraine-based NFT marketplace, has become the only crypto exchange to respond to Federov’s call to action. The NFT marketplace has announced that it will freeze the accounts of users in both countries and may even donate the asset to the war effort.
Cryptocurrencies Continue to Be Affected by Tension
Crypto markets lost a lot of value after Russia started operations. Bitcoin (BTC) It fell 2.11% last week. It’s down 1.43% on the day and it’s changing hands around $38,400.
Other cryptocurrencies have also seen significant declines in their value as more than $200 billion has been wiped from the cryptocurrency market cap. Its market cap is at $1.8 trillion, down 1.1% on the day.
However, crypto plays an important role in helping Ukraine. Donations in crypto to help the Ukrainian military and citizens have exceeded $18 million.
Major crypto market players have also garnered support for Ukraine. Vitalik Buterin stated that although he is Russian, he stands by Ukraine. Similarly, Justin Sun, the founder of TRON, also donated to the country. A staunch supporter of Dogecoin, Elon Musk helped Ukraine with Starlink satellites to ensure internet connectivity.
Disclaimer: What is written here is not investment advice. Cryptocurrency investments are high-risk investments. Every investment decision is under the individual’s own responsibility. Finally, KoinFinans and the author of this content cannot be held responsible for personal investment decisions.