Switzerland To Freeze Russian Crypto Assets – No More Neutrality
Switzerland’s federal government is planning to seize Russian crypto assets inside its borders, including those held by corporate entities and billionaires, multiple news outlets reported Saturday. Swiss President Ignazio Cassis indicated last week that Switzerland — eschewing a deeply rooted tradition of neutrality — would almost certainly join the European Union in condemning Russia and […]
Related News
The vice prime minister of Ukraine has asked all major cryptocurrency exchanges to freeze accounts of all Russian users. However, some crypto exchanges have already denied the request. Binance confirmed it is “not going to unilaterally freeze millions of innocent users’ accounts” while Kraken says it is “not really a viable business option for us.” Ukraine Wants Accounts of All Russian Crypto Users Frozen Mykhailo Fedorov, vice prime minister of Ukraine, tweeted Sunday asking all major cryptocurrency exchanges to block addresses of Russian users.....
Neutral Switzerland may target crypto assets within its territory that belong to sanctioned Russian entities, a report has said. The report quotes an official who explains that the move is designed to protect the integrity of the country’s cryptocurrency industry. The official, however, warns that crypto-assets that are not stored with cryptocurrency exchanges are impossible to target.
Protecting the Integrity of the Swiss Crypto Industry
An official from the traditionally neutral Switzerland has said the country may “target” all crypto asset service points....
If Western sanctions ramp up, CEXs may be forced to ban all Russian users from using their services, as they have previous done in Iran. Centralized exchanges (CEX) and CEOs from companies such as Binance, Coinbase and Kraken have all stated they would only freeze the assets of Russian clients specifically targeted by Western sanctions — not that of everyday Russian users.A few days prior, Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation, had called for “all major crypto exchanges to block [wallet] addresses of Russians” and “also to sabotage ordinary users [by freezing their....
As some platforms freeze accounts linked to Russia and Belarus, Binance said it will not block innocent Russians’ crypto assets. As the West continues to impose more sanctions against Russian banks following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, one Ukrainian official has called for sanctions on Russians’ cryptocurrency holdings as well.Mykhailo Fedorov, minister of digital transformation of Ukraine, took to Twitter on Sunday to urge the global cryptocurrency exchanges to block addresses of Russian users.He emphasized that exchanges should freeze not only the addresses tied to Russia and Belarus....
The Russian Ministry of Interior has rejected a request filed by clients of Wex to do its part in the blocking of crypto funds removed from a wallet controlled by the now-defunct crypto exchange. Over 10,000 ETH have been recently withdrawn from the wallet and transferred to other platforms. Wex Victims Try to Freeze $46 Million of Cryptocurrency Lost to Bankrupt Russian Exchange The Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia (MVD) has refused to act on a request from victims of crypto exchange Wex to take steps aimed at seizing digital assets worth $45.9....