Coinbase Blocks 25,000 Addresses Linked to Russians
Coinbase said it has blocked over 25,000 addresses linked to Russian individuals and entities it suspects of “engaging in illicit activity.” The crypto trading platform says it’s doing its part to comply with government restrictions.
Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal said in a statement that “Today, Coinbase blocks over 25,000 addresses related to Russian individuals or entities we believe to be 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.”
Grewal added that sanctions “play a vital role in promoting national security,” noting that the exchange supports government sanctions and has a “multi-layered” program for complying with them. He detailed how the exchange blocks sanctioned individuals and entities from accessing Coinbase by checking account applications and blocking access to IP addresses in sanctioned countries.
He further explained how the exchange has an “ongoing screening process” that helps it detect anyone who tries to evade sanctions, and proactively anticipates threats using blockchain analytics tools.
The United States and other countries around the world have imposed strict sanctions on Russia over the last few days in response to the country’s attack on Ukraine.
The European Union, and the United States among others agreed to cut off Russia from the SWIFT payments network and froze the Bank of Russia’s overseas assets.
The high level of sanctions melted to Russia following an invasion of Ukraine caused Ruble to tumble 30% in a day. #Coinbase Blocks 25,000 Addresses Linked to Russians
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