Binance Has Banned Crypto Accounts of Russian Officials’ Relatives

Binance Has Banned Crypto Accounts of Russian Officials’ Relatives

Binance, the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, is taking further steps to prevent the Russian government from using cryptocurrencies to mitigate the impact of Western sanctions.

Since Russia began military action in Ukraine two months ago, Binance has shut down several accounts linked to relatives of senior Kremlin officials, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

Elizaveta Peskova, the daughter of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, and Polina Kovaleva, the stepdaughter of foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, were among those affected, according to the article. Binance also claimed it has banned Kirill Malofeyev, the son of Russian businessman Konstantin Malofeyev, who was previously accused of breaching US sanctions.

“Proud to be a part of this team that makes a real difference,” Binance’s newly appointed global head of sanctions, Chagri Poyraz, wrote on his LinkedIn.

“What’s different is that our compliance screen operations are ‘proactive,’ aiming to detect and deter financial crime risk before any regulatory or legal action towards these individuals or entities,” he added.

Binance banned Peskova on March 3 when she attempted to access the exchange through a third-party brokerage, according to Poyraz. On March 11, the US Treasury Department announced sanctions against “Kremlin elites, leaders, oligarchs, and family for enabling Putin’s war against Ukraine.”

Peskova later emphasized her displeasure with the Western sanctions, calling them “totally unfair and unfounded.” “I was really surprised because it’s weird introducing sanctions on someone who is 24 years old and has nothing to do with the situation,” she said.

Binance has imposed a transaction limit on Russian nationals and residents’ accounts for the time being. They have restricted on-account trading for accounts with a balance of more than 10,000 Euros ($10,000). Binance’s CEO was reported by Bloomberg as saying that while the company will comply with EU sanctions, it will not “unilaterally freeze” millions of “innocent users'” accounts.

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