Coinbase has shut down 25K wallets belonging to Russian users due to allegations of “illicit behavior,” despite CEO Brian Armstrong’s recent plea to the public not to judge the business too harshly for continuing to operate its accounts in Russia. Armstrong has previously stated emphatically in a series of tweets that he would not deny people access to their Coinbase accounts without cause. 1/ We've been seeing some questions/discussion around whether crypto can be used to avoid sanctions. A few thoughts… — Brian Armstrong – barmstrong.eth (@brian_armstrong) March 4, 2022 3/ So it would be a mistake to think crypto businesses like Coinbase won't follow the law. Of course we will. This is why we screen people who sign up for our services against global watchlists, and block transactions from IP addresses that might… — Brian Armstrong – barmstrong.eth (@brian_armstrong) March 4, 2022 5/ That being said, we don’t think there’s a high risk of Russian oligarchs using crypto to avoid sanctions. Because it is an open ledger, trying to sneak lots of money through crypto would be more traceable than using U.S. dollars cash, art, gold, or other assets. — Brian Armstrong – barmstrong.eth (@brian_armstrong) March 4, 2022 7/ In addition, we are not preemptively banning all Russians from using Coinbase. We believe everyone deserves access to basic financial services unless the law says otherwise. — Brian Armstrong – barmstrong.eth (@brian_a...
