The crypto community is supporting the rights of common Russians amidst businesses that are leaving the country in hundreds, but the final decision is in the hand of regulators.
While world businesses are boycotting the Russian public due to the military operation in Ukraine, some of the companies in the crypto industry are taking a stand for non-sanctioned Russian public rights.
Paolo Ardoino chief technology officer of Bitfinex told the news media on Thursday that, Bitfinex which is an affiliate firm of Tether (USDT one of the largest global stablecoin providers, will not be freezing the common Russian customers’ accounts on unilateral bases due to global sanctions unless they are forced to do it.
Ardoino highlighted that proper action has been taken by Bitfinex against the sanctioned accounts of the Russian users. He told that Bitfinex is ensuring that will all its customers’ accounts there won’t be any irregular mobility or measures that could be against the applicable international sanctions.
As per Bitfinex, blocking all the common Russian population due to the ongoing military operation is not fair at the human level as the governmental actions might not speak for all individuals.
The CEO stated that our viewpoint is that all the actions taken by the government do not necessarily represent the public desires. We wish to protect all our customers’ accounts unless we are directed by our governing regulatory authorities.
According to CoinGecko data information, Bitfinex is one of the biggest global crypto exchanges launched in 2012 with daily trade volumes of more than $800 million at its writing time. The crypto exchange based in the Virgin Islands is popular for depending on the regulatory litigations with Bitfinex in the U.S. and due to violating the United States Commodity Exchange Act, Tether paid a $43 million fine in 2021.
Due to the existing world geopolitical situation, Bitfinex is not the only cryptocurrency exchange that wants to support the common Russian customers. The chief compliance officer of Bittrex, Michael Carter informed the news media that they are committed to being compliant with the requirements of sanctions, meanwhile also want to create minimum interruptions for law-abiding customers, including traders from Russia. Exmo which is London based crypto exchange has also continued supporting its customers from Russia.
