Ukraine Asks Crypto Exchanges To Stop Services For Russian Users

Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov. (Twitter screenshot @FedorovMykhailo)

JAKARTA – In the midst of the Russian military invasion, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov asked a number of global crypto exchanges to cut off their services for Russian users.

Fedorov urged crypto exchanges to freeze all blockchain addresses belonging to Russian users. This is intended so that crypto exchanges help Ukraine in defending itself from Russian attacks.

In a tweet on Sunday, Fedorov stressed the importance of cutting off crypto access to Russian and Belarusian politicians, as well as "sabotaging ordinary users". The request follows a series of sanctions against Russia from its western allies, including freezing the assets of Russia's four largest banks and reducing dependence on Russian oil exports.

Cryptopotato reports that crypto will take center stage in the conflict. The reason is that cryptocurrency is a tool used to provide support to Ukraine, and it is possible that crypto is also used by Russia. In October, Putin discussed using crypto as a means of payment “to transfer funds from one place to another” in the context of international trade.

In early February, Bitcoin was also used to support a truck driver protest in Canada. Bitcoin donations to the cause continue to be sent. But the Canadian government froze Bitcoin donations for the peaceful protest. It seems that the Deputy PM of Ukraine followed suit and urged crypto exchanges to freeze crypto addresses belonging to Russian citizens.

However, some have observed Fedorov's request against the principles of the cryptocurrency itself, which is universally accessible and neutral due to the decentralization of cryptocurrencies. So no authority can control it. However, some groups also support sending donations in the form of cryptocurrencies aimed at meeting military and medical needs in Ukraine.

Even so, not a few of the crypto industry sided with Ukraine. On Friday last week, one of the largest Ethereum mining pools suddenly stopped for Russian users. This is aimed at providing support to Ukraine.

In addition, the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine also supported the actions taken by the NFT platform and Metaverse DMarket which froze the accounts of Russian and Belarusian users.

Fedorov also asked a number of important US figures including Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg to stop the colonization of Mars and the development of the Metaverse in order to turn to support Ukraine. It didn't stop there, he also urged Zuckerberg to ban users from Russia who have Facebook and Instagram accounts.