Iranian, Venezuelan OpenSea Users Blocked From NFT Platform As Russia Sanctio...
Accounts belonging to OpenSea users with Iranian IP addresses have been canceled in the face of a growing debate regarding international sanctions and Russia’s attack on Ukraine. As pressure mounts on large cryptocurrency exchanges such as Coinbase, Kraken, and Binance to restrict access to their platforms to all Russian users and financial entities, other major […]
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The government of Ukraine legalized crypto and digital assets on its territory. Per an official post, the president of the country Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a law that legalizes transactions with this asset class. Related Reading | Iranian, Venezuelan OpenSea Users Blocked From NFT Platform Over Russia’s Attack On Ukraine According to the law, crypto exchange […]
Every day, people are seeing “live” why sanctions matter. “Everyone is starting to rethink the importance of compliance and crypto.” Whose side are you on? The Ukraine-Russia war is forcing people to answer that question. For some in the crypto community, this can be uncomfortable because if an individual or project stands with the West against Russia, it also means it abides by sanctions. This can be tough to square with crypto/blockchain’s supposed decentralized system and its claims on being borderless, censorship-free and distributed. Take OpenSea, the NFT marketplace, which really....
The world’s largest NFT marketplace has confirmed that it blocks users based on the U.S. sanctions list. U.S.-based NFT marketplace OpenSea has reportedly begun barring Iranian users from its platform, sparking outrage from NFT collectors and raising fresh debate about decentralization in the crypto space. On Thursday morning, Iranian OpenSea users started posting on Twitter that their accounts were being deactivated or deleted with no prior warning. Iranian NFT artist “Bornosor” vented frustrations to their 4,700 followers, in a tweet that quickly gained traction, garnering 342 retweets....
In contrast to some nations that have expressed openness for cryptocurrencies and have been home to several bitcoin websites, Russia has taken a hard-line defensive stance against this technological development. Just last year, the government decided to ban bitcoin activity and blocked access to several websites containing information about the cryptocurrency. In its announcement, the government specified that the only currency in Russia is the ruble and that those who participate in transactions using other currencies could face penalties. However, a recent court ruling may be able to....
The Russian Bitcoin Ban is still incoming, so it seems. Russian telecom regulator Roskomnadzor has finally acted on a court order from 2014. Russia is currently blocking access to several (seven at last count) Bitcoin-related sites. These websites have been blocked because Bitcoin contributes to the growth of the shadow economy." Some feel that this is just a warm-up for the upcoming Russian Bitcoin ban. Last year, Russia's Ministry of Finance revealed a full draft of their proposed Russian Bitcoin Ban legislation. Russia's stated goal has been to ban Bitcoin by 2015, despite some....