Crypto exchange Coinbase blocks 25,000 Russian accounts

Crypto exchange Coinbase has blocked 25,000 accounts linked to Russian individuals and businesses.

Coinbase said it has identified thousands of suspicious user addresses through the site’s own proactive investigations. The revelation follows calls for crypto exchanges to block Russian users amid fears digital assets are being used to evade sanctions imposed when Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine.

“Sanctions play a vital role in promoting national security and deterring unlawful aggression, and Coinbase fully supports these efforts by government authorities,” wrote Coinbase’s chief legal officer Paul Grewal. “Sanctions are serious interventions, and governments are best placed to decide when, where, and how to apply them.”

“No compliance program is perfect, including ours. But to play our part in these critical economic sanctions, Coinbase implements a multi-layered, global sanctions program,” Grewal continued, revealing the exchange already blocks thousands of Russian users.

Crypto currency exchanges have been subjected to intense scrutiny by lawmakers and regulators in recent weeks. Last Sunday, Ukraine’s vice prime minister called for crypto exchanges to block all Russian and Belarusian users amid concerns about sanction evasion.

Major crypto exchanges including Binance, Coinbase and Kraken have resisted calls for a blanket ban on Russian users.

Countering claims that crypto is a hotbed for illicit activity, Grewal pointed out that “digital asset transactions are traceable, permanent, and public” because of the blockchain.

“The transparency of the blockchain is a formidable tool for law enforcement, and platforms like Coinbase work very hard to partner with law enforcement to root out bad actors,” Grewal added.

Read more: Binance defies calls to block Russian users from crypto exchange