Switzerland is about to Freeze Russian Profiles on Regulated Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Exchanges

Jenson Nunez
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Switzerland is about to Freeze Russian Profiles on Regulated Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Exchanges

Switzerland will add a sanction to Russia in the cryptocurrency environment. The suspension of digital currency accounts will impact citizens and entities sanctioned by the EU.

The Swiss Ministry of Finance revealed that it would suspend the assets of Russian citizens and bodies on regulated crypto exchanges in that nation. American media Financial Times spoke about the situation in a recent report.

According to the report, the Swiss Federal Council applied the move as a sanction that will be part of those already implemented within the framework of the financial punishments used by the European Union (EU) on Russia for a military incursion in Ukraine.

Although Switzerland does not have membership in the EU and has a solid political stance based on neutrality, last week, the Swiss nation showed interest in matching the package of economic punishments applied by Brussels on Moscow.

Finance Minister Guy Parmelin explained that Switzerland applied the four sanctions packages from the European bloc. On the other hand, since last Monday, bank accounts and assets in Switzerland, belonging to 223 Russian citizens, got frozen.

Various comments aimed at a senior Finance Ministry official highlight that this move would be vital for Switzerland to expand economic sanctions on Russia towards crypto-asset trading.

The spokesperson highlighted that it would be impossible to block funds in self-custodial wallets. If a user has a cryptographic key, it would not be possible to discover its identity. But if they apply crypto services, officials can detect these service points.

Switzerland has sustained its stance as a favorable country to develop works based on digital currencies since 2016. Even the canton of Zug was one of the first territories to accept tax payments with bitcoin and other digital assets. This Friday, news got spread about the Swiss city of Lugano and its desire to become a European Bitcoin City.

Switzerland also became part of the Financial Action Task Force regulations, applied to the cryptocurrency industry. This bill arrives with dubious instructions, like sharing users’ personal information with the government and with the administration of other countries in the region.

Europe Might be Fractured

Europe is going through harsh times. The EU and the UK are still managing the negative sequels that Brexit left when it happened. The whole European territory is still fighting against the Covid-19 pandemic. Germany counts on a new chancellor named Olaf Scholz. Its new government is still trying to set up a robust foreign policy to deal with massive migrations and other relevant situations.

Along with other European nations, Germany gets fed from Russian natural gas, and energy prices might skyrocket soon. On the other hand, France would celebrate elections in April, and French President Emmanuel Macron wishes to play an essential role in this event.

By: Jenson Nuñez

The CEO of Binance Thinks Blocking Russian Citizens Is Unethical

Alexander Salazar
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Changpeng said his firm obeyed government mandates but considers restricting all Russian users during this war is unethical. While Kraken thinks it is unfair to ban Russians without a fully legal basis, Coinbase refuses to block those not sanctioned.

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance ignored the requests by the United States to restrict access to their Russian clients. Its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, considers the sanctions imposed on all Russian citizens are unfair, as many do not support the conflict with Ukraine.

Other exchanges like Kraken and Coinbase also refused to prohibit Russian users from using their services. Their CEOs told Mykhailo Fedorov, the Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine, that they would only block only those citizens targeted by sanctions.

Zhao recently stated that his firm obeyed government mandates regarding imposing limits on sanctioned countries. However, he considers restricting all Russian citizens during the war against Ukraine is unethical.

The executive said that all cryptocurrency-related firms had to meet the same regulations as any other company. He noted that this forces the Binance exchange to comply with the sanctions requirements of the US regulatory framework.

However, the CEO of Binance explained that anyone on the sanctioned list could not use the platform, but anyone not on it could.

Other Exchanges Agree with the Position of the Binance CEO

While Joe Biden discussed sanctions and cryptocurrency exchanges, the Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine urged to block access to Russia.

However, most cryptocurrency exchanges agree with the Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao.

Jesse Powell, the CEO of Kraken, stated that he respects Ukrainian citizens but thinks it is unfair to ban Russians without a fully legal basis.

A spokesperson of Binance added that taking such an action goes against what cryptocurrencies represent.

Another leading exchange, Coinbase, refused to block access to users in Russia not on the sanctioned list.

All exchanges are subject to anti-money laundering regulations, an additional relevant level of security.

In addition, the narrative that Russia could use cryptocurrencies to evade sanctions could have an obvious flaw. The Eurasian country would lack liquidity due to its conflict with Ukraine.

It is hard to find exchanges that offer large amounts of cryptocurrencies, such as those that a world power like Russia would request.

A clear example is the maximum liquidity of the RUB/BTC pair, which does not exceed USD 200,000 on any leading exchange. That amount is too far from the USD 50 billion that passes through Russia every day.

Changpeng Considers Cryptocurrencies Will Not Help Russia Evade Sanctions

The CEO of Binance recently stated that the Kremlin could not use cryptocurrencies to evade sanctions.

The executive explained cryptocurrencies were too easy to trace, so the focus should be on banks and the oil market.

The US is considering imposing sanctions on the Russian cryptocurrency market since crypto assets could help make cross-border transactions. Zhao noted that did not apply to Binance, as they follow the same sanctions rules as banks, according to international standards.

According to Zhao, cryptocurrency transactions are not an effective tool for illicit activities. He explained that anyone could scrutinize a blockchain, given that it registers every operation.

Billionaire businessman Changpeng Zhao, whose wealth is around USD 1.9 billion, donated USD 10 million to help those fleeing the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

By Alexander Salazar

South Korea is About to Spend at Least $187 Million from its National Fund to Create a Metaverse

Jenson Nunez
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South Korea is About to Spend at Least $187 Million from its National Fund to Create a Metaverse

Despite robust regulations for crypto-assets and a prohibition on NFTs, the South Korean administration is making enormous efforts to create a metaverse

South Korea is working hard on the new tech fad and strategies to use at least $187 million, or 223.7 South Korean won, to build a metaverse environment.

The Asian nation’s information technology ministry revealed its compromise to invest the funds to create a functional metaverse ecosystem to back up the constant increase of digital content and corporate growth within the nation. The Ministry of ICT said that they want to improve their expertise in the metaverse and build a friendly business environment behind this platform.

South Korea and the Metaverse

According to a report led by Business Insider, the government agency explained a series of achievements they want to reach with the project. The first one is the creation of an expansive metaverse. The metaverse platform would also host community-oriented creativity actions and metaverse development content.

According to the ministry’s information reported by news channels, content creators will receive backup from the strategy. At the same time, hackathons and other events oriented to developers will boost the community of virtual lovers.

The government firmly believes that developing a national virtual environment will be the key to boosting South Korea’s education industry. The ministry also highlighted in the statement that it also desires to offer the creation of friendly laws and regulatory infrastructure to encourage the metaverse.

The investment arrives as the key to South Korea’s “Digital New Deal,” a set of bills that intend to help digital technologies such as the metaverse and artificial intelligence platforms grow in a healthy environment.

Seoul Could Become the First Metaverse City

This plan is not the first time the South Korean administration has revealed interest in the metaverse. The most recent announcements reinforce the efforts of the country to create a healthy environment for developers and crypto lovers.

The ministry stated that the metaverse could generate at least 1.5 million jobs in January. The entity also had advanced strategies to train more than 40,000 professionals specializing in the metaspace.

Through VR headsets, citizens could go to a virtual town hall as avatars instead of assisting the place in real life. They will also gain the ability to virtually go to the vast tourist places in Seoul and the representative festivals of the capital; the system would also include locations of municipal administration.

The national innovation effort could pose a significant change in policies on crypto-assets. Currently, South Korea has one of the most prominent and robust regulations for digital currencies. The country also prohibited the implementation of non-fungible tokens in video games and prohibited tokens, both of which get deeply connected to the metaverse.

By: Jenson Nuñez

Venezuelan Government Announced that Activities with Digital Currencies are Exempt from the Tax Payment Approved in February

Jenson Nunez
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Venezuelan Government Announced that Activities with Digital Currencies are Exempt from the Tax Payment Approved in February

According to the Official Gazette of Venezuela, both the purchase/sale of digital assets and the payments with said assets are exempt from the Tax on primary financial operations. However, various situations apply depending on the nature of the taxpayer.

New policies that appear in the Official Gazette on February 25 say that some financial activities will get exempt from the Tax on Large Financial Transactions payment. The purchase/sale of digital assets stands out, and the charges get made with these assets. Operations with digital currencies got freed from the Tax on prominent Financial Transactions.

This action appeared in Official Gazette #6,689. The Venezuelan authorities explained that foreign exchange activities and the purchase, sale, and transferences of securities, whether in foreign funds or crypto actives other than the Petro, are free from paying such a tax.

The measure also goes for sending remittances and payments in bolivars with debit or credit cards, whether national or international, from foreign currency accounts, and costs in assets other than the national currency made to natural persons or legal a category where cryptocurrencies also apply.

Another factor highlighted by the Official Gazette explains that this measure does not apply to particular taxpayers, a category applicable for the Venezuelan Tax Administration to differentiate some types of taxpayers subject to specific requirements when declaring such taxes.

In this regard, the local media El Pitazo explained that for taxpayers, operations with digital currencies contemplate an aliquot between a minimum limit of 2% and 8%, according to the provisions highlighted by the Official Gazette # 6,687

The Measure the National Assembly Approved

This new bill arrived at the National Assembly of Venezuela at the beginning of last February. It received acceptance in another discussion regarding the Draft Law for the Partial Reform of the Decree with Rank, Value, and Force of Tax on Large Financial Transactions. Among the most complex rules, there is a tax of up to 20% on commercial or financial operations through foreign assets or digital currencies.

This measure faced a debate since the National Assembly elected in 2020 discussed how this measure got created to empower the recovery of the Venezuelan economic system, which shows the wounds suffered due to poor rules that respond more to ambitions of the current administration than to the problems experienced by Venezuelan citizens.

At the time of approving the measure, the president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, explained the plans to heal the country’s economy and macroeconomics.

Among the aspects that would improve after the approval of this measure are the exchange rate, the percentage of inflation, and the percentage of GDP growth. It will also allow the Venezuelan administration to acquire the dollars that the wealthy personalities and prominent merchants save.

By: Jenson Nuñez

Anonymous Group Will Give Bitcoin to Russian Soldiers Who Hand over their Tanks to Ukrainian Armed Forces

Jenson Nunez
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0

Anonymous members raised at least 5 million rubles in Bitcoin funds, which they will use to finance this campaign to support the Ukrainian people amid the war.

Anonymous’s prominent international hacker organization gives Bitcoin payments to Russian soldiers who are willing to hand over their tanks to the Ukrainian armed forces amid the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

The offer addressed to Russian soldiers went viral yesterday, in which Anonymous explained that it was offering at least 5 million rubles in BTC for each tank given to Ukrainian forces. The organization will sustain this strategy with a 1 billion rubles raised fund to reach this goal.

Rewards in BTC for Russian Soldiers Who Deliver Tanks to Ukrainian forces

To achieve this goal, the Anonymous team suggested the interested military surrender using a white flag with the password “million” at the time of submission, which would be a sign that shows an acceptance of the terms laid out by the hacker group. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry clarified that all Russian soldiers that surrendered their weapons would count on total amnesty.

Anonymous’s proposal arrived right after the hackers highlighted that they were behind a massive cyberattack campaign to weaken Russia. The group underscored that they managed to find a breach in the digital security of more than 300 Russian websites recently, including the pages of various government agencies, prominent Russian and Belarusian financial entities, and relevant media outlets.

The organization’s spokesman also said modern technologies are best contenders against tanks, rockets, and missiles. The group revealed a video on February 27, right after the announcement of the attack to Ukraine, with a message sent to the Russian president.

The Role of Cryptocurrencies Would Play to Solve this Conflict

Amid the situation in Ukraine after the invasion of Russian troops into its area, various campaigns boosted the popularity of cryptocurrencies mainly to bring aid to Ukrainians in these times.

The Ukrainian government recently revealed that it was receiving funds through donations in various digital assets, including some prominent ones, recently adding their supportive stance for Solana and Dogecoin.

On the other hand, the Ukrainian government started receiving digital assets as donations on February 26, when Russian troops broke into Ukrainian territory in an extraordinary military operation.

Addresses created to receive Bitcoin and Ethereum donations went to the public in various ways. Still, the government has been extending the list as the digital asset community showed commitment to back up the nation with multiple cryptos.

Last week, Polkadot founder Gavin Wood suggested the government receive DOT, his currency, offering a considerable amount valued at $5 million donations. The official Twitter account of the Ukrainian administration included the money on March 1.

The state is currently encouraging an ‘airdrop’ campaign, which will get distributed among donors who have helped the cause by sending funds to official Ukrainian government wallet addresses.

By: Jenson Nuñez

Metamask Restored the Service in Venezuela after Obstructing it for Various Hours On March 3

Jenson Nunez
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0
Metamask Restored the Service in Venezuela after Obstructing it for Various Hours On March 3

Many people denounced through social media that they couldn’t use their wallets. Metamask had reported that the block had to do with legal issues.

Metamask, a famous wallet that carries out activities with Ethereum, obstructed the activities for users in Venezuela on March 3. In the afternoon, the service got back to its normal activities.

As shared by users through social media, the impossibility of entering the wallet was due to legal compliance problems. The action also impacted Infura, the wallet’s server, to send and gather information from the blockchain.

The blockade lasted various hours before access got finally rehabilitated. The company behind Metamask, Consensys, has not released any statement to clarify if the service will get blocked again in the short term.

Perhaps the first user to highlight this problem was the Venezuelan bitcoin enthusiast José Rafael Peña. In his publication, he stated that the situation occurred because there is always a problem or disruption in Venezuela that would make him lose access to his wallet. He sends his message with a screenshot of the Metamask site in which he tries to explain the possible reasons behind the failure of the platform.

The Metamask post clearly explained that Metamask and Infura were not active in various regions due to legal compliance difficulties. Further down, the statement shows a link for those users who want to migrate their recovery passwords.

Peña added that this situation shows that the decentralization they preach is fake. Infura is a service that focuses on the interchange of data with the Ethereum blockchain through platforms like Metamask, CryptoKitties, and TruFa.

Although Infura helps platforms perform their activities better and makes it easier for developers to create apps, it focuses more on working against decentralization. This situation happens because an intermediary got placed between application and network, which could cause struggles like the one with Venezuelan users.

How to Avoid these Blockages

Among users who spoke about the situation via Twitter, many highlighted that using a VPN could be an alternative for these cases. VPNs encrypt information and apply modifications to the IP of an internet connection. This way, they can camouflage a user’s location.

Finally, another solution is to implement other wallets to house digital assets; these wallets could be Trust Wallet or MyCrypto. None of these wallets have shown any problem in carrying out activities in a country like Venezuela.

Although there is no confirmation on what could have forced Metamask to stop bringing services to Venezuela, many said that it could be an economic obstruction due to the financial punishment the international community is implementing amid the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Ukraine and other countries, including economic giants, such as the United States of America and the United Kingdom, intended to punish Russia with economic sanctions for its invasion of the affected country.

By: Jenson Nuñez

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