Key Takeaways:
-Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong reassured the Russian commonfolk that the exchange will continue operating in the country.
– However, if the US government seeks to impose a blanket ban, the exchange would have to follow the same.
-“We are not going to unilaterally freeze millions of innocent users’ accounts.” , says a Binance spokesperson.
Defying the hegemony that the US holds in face of a ban on Russia, the Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong reassured the Russian commonfolk that the exchange will continue operating in the country. With this, Coinbase Global Inc (COIN.O) joins Binance amongst others that plan to maintain their status quo amidst orders of a blanket ban that has been spreading like wildfire in the Western block.
While Russia runs at the risk of being isolated by the mainstream financial organizations, these two exchanges stand their ground maintaining neutrality at the time of Ukraine’s invasion of Russia.
Coinbase Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong through his Twitter, made their stance clear, “We believe everyone deserves access to basic financial services unless the law says otherwise.”
But at the same time, if the US government seeks to impose a blanket ban, the exchange would have to follow the same as said by Armstrong.
He backed the power of crypto and how it can help tackle the problem of Russians evading sanctions. He said, โtrying to sneak lots of money through crypto would be more traceable than using US dollars cash, art, gold, or other assets.โ
Similarly, Binance which is the biggest crypto exchange in the world currently, clarified, “We are not going to unilaterally freeze millions of innocent users’ accounts.”
As the shifting sands of geopolitics bring about a paradigm shift in the world of crypto, countless crypto exchanges have faced the fire to discontinue their services in Russia post their showdown in Ukraine.