Russian citizens’ accounts on Blockchain.com will soon be closed, and businesses like Binance are striving to implement the new EU restrictions.
Blockchain.com, a provider of cryptocurrency wallets, is the most recent business that will shortly stop offering its services to Russian citizens as a result of the most recent EU sanctions.
Local news outlet RBC stated on October 14 that Blockchain.com had informed its users that it will be closing Russian citizens’ accounts in two weeks. The report states that Russian customers will be able to withdraw their money from Blockchain.com until October 27, 2022. The accounts of Russian citizens will apparently be disabled after that date.
The statement noted that, in accordance with the EU’s eighth package of sanctions on Russia, Blockchain.com is not now permitted to provide custody and incentive services to Russian citizens.
The most recent package outlaws all cross-border cryptocurrency transfers between Russians and the EU, in contrast to earlier restrictions that simply set a cap on such transfers at about $9,700 or 10,000 euros. The new sanctions were imposed by the EU on Oct. 6.
Blockchain.com also offers custodial trading accounts, which let users purchase and sell cryptocurrency on the platform, in addition to the noncustodial wallet. It is still unknown if Russian users of Blockchain.com will be able to continue using their non-custodial wallets.
Blockchain.com is not the only website that has suspended some services to Russians in light of the most recent restrictions. Prominent blockchain startup Dapper Labs also blocked Russian accounts in response to the EU’s most recent sanctions against Russia and its citizens.
Numerous other significant peer-to-peer networks and exchanges, such Crypto.com and LocalBitcoins, intend to impose similar service limitations on Russian citizens in accordance with the restrictions.