- Binance has rejected demands to restrict Russian citizens’ accounts.
- the trade volume of ruble-denominated crypto was barely $34.1 million on March 3.
Despite claims that Russia would use digital assets to evade sanctions, data from blockchain-analysis companies reveal that Russian crypto purchases and trade on major exchanges have decreased.
In the wake of last week’s 15 percent jump in Bitcoin’s price, several industry insiders speculated that Russians were driving the increase by purchasing the digital currency. According to statistics from Chainalysis, the trade volume of ruble-denominated crypto was barely $34.1 million on March 3, which is less than half of the previous record of $70.7 million on February 24.
Citigroup Analyst Alexander Saunders said:
“Russian volumes have been relatively small so far, suggesting that the price action is more due to investors positioning for an expected uptick in demand from Russia, rather than Russian demand itself.”
Enhanced Monitoring
The U.S and EU regulators are boosting their monitoring of digital assets even though experts reject the concept that crypto may be used to assist Russia to avoid economic sanctions. Earlier this year, New York enhanced its blockchain monitoring capabilities to prevent cryptocurrencies or digital assets from assisting Russian goals.
Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York ordered state agencies to divest from Russian institutions and enterprises, as well as organizations that support them, on February 27, according to an executive order she issued. According to Jake Chervinsky, the Blockchain Association’s policy director in the United States, these fears about crypto are “totally unfounded”.
Many of the world’s biggest crypto exchanges have opted to blacklist sanctioned persons and organizations in light of impending regulatory action from the international community. To the disappointment of “innocent” Russian clients, Binance has rejected demands to restrict their accounts.
