Key Takeaways
- The latest sanctions prohibit the crypto firm from providing any wallet, account, or custody services to Russian nationals.
- Dapper states it was ordered by EU law to abide by sanctions since its “payment processing, and stored value service partner is subject to EU rules.”
- “Regardless of this new regulation, any NFT previously purchased by an impacted user continues to belong to that user,” Dapper added.
Flow Blockchain developers Dapper Labs have suspended Russian accounts following the latest European Union sanctions on the country. The latest sanctions prohibit crypto firms from providing any wallet, account, or custody services to Russian nationals. Brussels approved the eighth package of EU sanctions on Thursday, October 6.
“The existing prohibitions on crypto assets have been tightened by banning all crypto-asset wallets, accounts, or custody services, irrespective of the amount of the wallet,” the European Commission said in a statement.
“It is now prohibited to provide crypto-asset wallet, account, or custody services of any value to accounts with connections to Russia,” Dapper’s press release stated. “However, Dapper has not closed the accounts.” The company noted that it was ordered by EU law to abide by sanctions since its “payment processing and stored value service partner is subject to EU rules.”
Dapper has also added that users impacted by the move will be unable to purchase, sell, or gift digital collectibles across platforms, including UFC Strike, NBA Top Shot, and NFL All Day.
“Regardless of this new regulation, any NFT previously purchased by an impacted user continues to belong to that user,” Dapper added. Users of Russian-linked accounts will, however, still be able to access and view the NFTs they’ve purchased.
“Any Moments you own and any Dapper Balance continue to be your property”, Dapper has reassured in its press release. The latest sanctions apply irrespective of the number of digital assets one possesses. Earlier this year, the EU had prohibited the provision of “high-value” crypto-asset services, i.e., those for crypto holdings exceeding €10,000 in the Russian Federation.
Following the introduction of the latest EU sanctions, other European crypto firms are likely to follow Dapper Lab’s footsteps in banning Russian accounts. Earlier this week, Russia had blocked access to OKX—the world’s third-largest crypto exchange by volume for the alleged “dissemination of unreliable socially significant information of a financial nature.”
Similar crypto firm blocking has happened in Russia in recent years. The world’s largest exchange, Binance- was blocked in Russia between September 2020 and January 2021 before a regional court reversed the order.
