Crypto game company bans Russians from complying with sanctions

One of the biggest blockchain game developers has become the first crypto-related company to block Russian users from accessing their services..

Animoca Brands co-founder announced the decision after Russia invaded Ukraine.

“The legal advice we received is that now we have to put in place some restrictions,” Yat Siu said. Bloomberg.

“It’s a sanctioned country on par with North Korea. The moment we end up doing business in those areas, we could be out of the financial system. “

Animoca will also stop selling shares to Russian investors, Siu added. The decision will affect subsidiaries Gamee and Lympo but is not likely to have a major impact on businesses.

Gamee announced on Twitter on February 24th the closure of its services to Russia, while Lympo said it would stop publishing Russian athletes’ non-fungible tokens and end negotiations. Negotiate with the nation’s athletes to join the Lympo NFT ecosystem.

While tech giants like Google and Meta, formerly Facebook, have complied with sanctions imposed on Russia, crypto exchanges have been more reluctant.

Kraken CEO Jesse Powell said in response to the Prime Minister of Ukraine, “there is no legal requirement to do so” they cannot restrict the accounts of ordinary Russians.

Cryptocurrency Exchanges Reluctant to Act on Russia

To comply with the sanctions, Meta has put limits on major Russian media companies. The largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, made it clear on February 28 that it will not freeze the accounts of Russian users.

A spokesperson for Binance said: “We will not unilaterally freeze millions of innocent users’ accounts… Unilateral decision to ban people from accessing their cryptocurrency will fly as to why the money is electrons exist”.

Hillary Clinton, former US Secretary of State, told Kraken and Binance: “I am very disappointed to see that some crypto exchanges, not all, but some of them are refusing to terminate their dealings with Russia. . ”

Animoca’s decision comes as the EU, US, UK and allies have blocked Russia’s access to the SWIFT international money transfer service.

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