Tether refused to block Russian customers unless they get legally forced to do so. Mastercard, Visa, and PayPal are three of the various companies that have already obstructed Russian users.
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov is pushing one more time on the digital currency industry to block its activities in Russia.
This time, Fedorov directed his intentions toward Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Tether, the issuer of the stable coin Tether (USDT), to block any financial operation with the Russians. In his opinion, they must do so to maintain world peace.
The Ukrainian official commented on March 11 that the democratic world joined efforts against Russia to punish the invaders for attacking a nation.
At the call of the official Fedorov, Ardoino replied that they would not obstruct Russian users unless they get obliged to do so by order of the regulators.
The representative explained to the media view that the actions of a government do not represent the intentions of a few individuals. Unless the regulatory authorities by which they receive direct orders command them otherwise because they desire to protect the accounts of all their customers.
Blocking a stable coin like Tether could impede how a cryptocurrency exchange behaves since it has become a central part of that crypto environment by allowing liquidity management. Currently, it is the most prominent stable coin with a market cap approaching $80 billion.
Tether’s position has the same stance as previously by bitcoin exchanges and digital currencies like Binance and Kraken. Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, highlighted that digital assets got created to bring greater financial liberties to people around the globe.
Financial Liberty
On the other hand, Jesse Powell, CEO of Kraken, highlighted that this financial liberty could only happen through legal ways. Powell said he knows why he received such a request, but Kraken is not in a position of blocking or obstructing in any possible way the accounts of its Russian clients without a legal requirement to apply such a measure.
Given the negative responses from the representatives of these entities, the Ukrainian government intends to take legal steps to oblige these networks to obstruct Russian addresses.
Ukraine’s request to entities in the crypto sector align with a proposal executed recently by US President Joe Biden for exchanges to prevent Bitcoin and other digital assets from being a valuable tool for sanctioned Russians and organizations to avoid these punishments.
Cryptocurrencies are an issue that also concerns governments and regulators in Europe and other nations worldwide who stand against the Russian military operation.
Other Entities Executed Measures Against Russia
Although some companies kept bringing their services to customers in Russia, one step in that direction and decided to block activities with that country was the American exchange Coinbase.
Other payment entities such as Mastercard, Visa, American Express, and PayPal also opted to stop their financial activities in Russia.
These cards created in Russia were disabled and didn’t work outside Russia. Cards made by financial institutions outside Russia will no longer operate within the Russian Federation. On the other hand, PayPal expressed its rejection regarding Russia’s attack on Ukraine and also suspended its financial activities on Russia.
By: Jenson Nuñez
