Coinbase Blocks 25,000 Russian Owned Cryptocurrency Wallets over ‘Illicit Activity’

The Russian government has announced their plan to block the country’s 25,000 cryptocurrency wallets in order to combat “illicit activity.
This latest move by Russia comes as other countries have tried various methods of intervention on bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. China has already banned ICOs, while South Korea is considering a ban over worries about possible pyramid schemes involving crypto-wallets. Additionally, Japan recently disbanded its own regulatory body for cryptocurrencies after losing one million people due to fraud around initial coin offerings (ICOs).
The US Securities Exchange Commission even held hearings with major players like Facebook and Twitter earlier this year that revealed some links between companies involved in blockchain technology and ICO scams.,
However despite these moves from governments across the world, many believe that they will be unable to halt or slow down blockchain’s potential disruption of industries including gaming which experts say could see mass adoption if regulators take note how games are able achieve more immersion than ever before with new features enabled by blockchain tech such as digital ownership tokens stored locally on your computer or hardware wallet without the need for complex cryptographic security keys

The “Coinbase Blocks 25,000 Russian Owned Cryptocurrency Wallets over ‘Illicit Activity’” is a news story about Coinbase blocking 25,000 Russian owned cryptocurrency wallets due to illicit activity.

Coinbase said that it will preserve a list of sanctioned people’s accounts outside of Coinbase and share the blocks with governments.

Coinbase, a popular cryptocurrency exchange, has reported that over 25,000 blockchain wallet addresses related to Russian persons and businesses have been blocked. The corporation detailed how it works with governments, adding that the aforementioned addresses were engaged in unlawful operations, in what seems to be a move in full support of sanctions against Russia.

After detecting evasion efforts and identifying high-risk conduct, the business said that it was dedicated to denying access to sanctioned actors. Individuals and businesses that have been sanctioned will be unable to create new accounts. All of the blacklisted addresses were shared with the US authorities, according to Coinbase. According to the business,

“Today, Coinbase blocks over 25,000 addresses associated with Russian individuals or entities that we believe are engaging in illicit activity, many of which we have identified through our own proactive investigations […] once we identified these addresses, we shared them with the government to further support sanctions enforcement.”

Maintains a list of accounts owned outside of Coinbase by sanctioned individuals.

According to the company’s blog post, the cryptocurrency exchange checks the information a user provides when opening an account against a list of individuals sanctioned by the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, United Nations, Singapore, Canada, and Japan. Additionally, the company blocks users from sanctioned areas like Crimea, North Korea, Syria, and Iran. The company also revealed it Maintains a list of accounts owned outside of Coinbase by sanctioned individuals.. The company added:

“When the US sanctioned a Russian national in 2020, it specifically listed three associated blockchain addresses […] we proactively identified over 1,200 additional addresses potentially associated with the sanctioned individual, which we added to our internal blocklist through advanced blockchain analysis.”

Objected to a complete prohibition on the usage of bitcoin.

8/ Now that their currency has collapsed, some regular Russians are turning to cryptocurrency as a lifeline. Many of them are likely to be opposed to what their nation is doing, and a ban would be detrimental to them as well. However, if the US government chooses to enforce a ban, we will, of course, abide by the rules.

March 4, 2022 – Brian Armstrong – barmstrong.eth (@brian armstrong)

Coinbase said all the blocked wallets were linked only to sanctioned individuals and entities, not ordinary Russians. The firm’s CEO Brian Armstrong has previously Objected to a complete prohibition on the usage of bitcoin. in Russia, arguing they offered ordinary Russians a tool as the value of the ruble plummets in response to the sanctions. Armstrong said on Twitter last week:

“Now that their currency has fallen, some regular Russians are adopting crypto as a lifeline […] many of them are undoubtedly opposed to what their nation is doing, and a ban would damage them as well.” However, if the US government chooses to implement a ban, we will, of course, comply.”

Improving our entire compliance program as well as industry compliance requirements

In centralized exchanges like Coinbase, a few people maintain decision-making authority. Armstrong has attempted to strike a balance between adhering to the restrictions and demonstrating how crypto cannot be used to circumvent them. Paul Grewal, the Chief Legal Officer of Coinbase, wrote:

“We welcome public scrutiny of the crypto industry and will continue working to Improving our entire compliance program as well as industry compliance requirements.”