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Coinbase, Binance Resist Calls To Kick Russians Off Crypto Platforms (cnn.com) 77

Posted by msmash from the taking-a-stand dept.
Two of the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, Coinbase and Binance, rejected calls on Friday for a blanket ban on all Russian users to stop their platforms from being used as a way round Western sanctions. From a report: "We believe everyone deserves access to basic financial services unless the law says otherwise," Coinbase Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong said in a series of tweets on Friday. The exchange, however, would enforce such a blanket ban if the U.S. government decides to impose one, Armstrong added. "We are not going to unilaterally freeze millions of innocent users' accounts," a spokesperson of Binance, the world's biggest crypto exchange, said in an emailed statement to Reuters. Both cryptocurrency exchanges have said they will comply with government sanctions. Major crypto exchanges have been urged to ban their services in Russia to prevent sanctioned entities from parking their assets using cryptocurrencies. The exchanges, however, insist they are well equipped to avoid abuse of their platforms.
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Coinbase, Binance Resist Calls To Kick Russians Off Crypto Platforms More

Coinbase, Binance Resist Calls To Kick Russians Off Crypto Platforms

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  • incredible (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    A company with balls for a change.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by MightyMartian ( 840721 )

      I don't really call sucking up to tyrants having balls. Kinda of the opposite really.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        You live in a fantasy dreamland if you believe treating people with equality means sucking up to Putin. Grow up.

    • Criminal money laundering enterprises refuse to stop money laundering.
      • Also "innocent" users? REALLY? [youtube.com]
      • Given that their main markets, which used to be drug dealers and organised crime, has now extended to (future) war criminals, they're pretty much begging for government regulation. At some point the free-for-all will end for the money laundering mills, and given the current sanctionmania I'm guessing this will be the last straw for them.
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • Agreed. But keep an eye on those oligarchs trying to move their thieving wealth via crypto.

        Seems the Feds are pretty good at tracking down crypto payments/movements, and others seem pretty good at stealing them, so this might not be that good a way to evade the sanctions and/or hide and keep their money -- and toys purchased ...

        • Can you imagine if North Korea ended up stealing all the oligarchs' cryptocurrency?

          I don't know if that is comedic gold, or more stuff for us to worry about.

    • A company with balls for a change.

      By trying to make money undercutting the sanctions?

      Now there are valid debates about how far the sanctions that affect ordinary Russians should go.

      But it's naive to think that this is anything but an attempt to make money and recruit users by giving Russians a way to access the global financial system that sanctions are trying to cut them off from.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by RobinH ( 124750 )
      Ok, Ivan. How sure are you that your next paycheque from the Russian government isn't going to bounce, by the way? Shouldn't you be out stocking up on food?
    • "The exchange, however, would enforce such a blanket ban if the U.S. government decides to impose one, Armstrong added."

      So no.

  • They cover criminals... (Score:3)

    by Lavandera ( 7308312 ) on Friday March 04, 2022 @02:46PM (#62326645)

    It is clear crypto is perfect for money laundering and black money ...

    They cover their clients since when criminals realize their crypto is not safe - they will move away from crypto...

    Crypto is build on ability to pay for porn, drugs, prostitutes, guns and all stuff people do not want to pay with their credit cards...

    Or if they want to circumvent sanctions or regulations...

    • Crypto is build on ability to pay for porn, drugs, prostitutes, guns and all stuff people do not want to pay with their credit cards...

      You think that's bad? You should see what people use cash for

      • Moving a very large quantities of cash around comes with its own logistical problems. Especially across borders.

        • And that's most of the reason why such things as money laundering exist. What to do with all that cash that takes up space, and how do I get it into my normal every day bank account without the tax and law guys taking notice, how can I buy a nice big house on the hill with all these suitcases of money?

    • It is clear crypto is perfect for money laundering and black money ...

      They cover their clients since when criminals realize their crypto is not safe - they will move away from crypto...

      Crypto is build on ability to pay for porn, drugs, prostitutes, guns and all stuff people do not want to pay with their credit cards...

      Or if they want to circumvent sanctions or regulations...

      The same can be said of physical currency.

      Can you further clarify your description to draw a distinction between crypto and physical currency?

      Or are you saying physical currency is also bad?

      What exactly are you advocating for, anyway?

      • Large amounts of currency being moved around without the ability to track it is bad. For example, you buying porn or drugs on the black market isnâ(TM)t what they are concerned with. Itâ(TM)s the group with billions in crypto shuffling money around to avoid detection, thatâ(TM)s what is worrisome. You could literally buy an army with that money. If they wanted they could only freeze accounts above a certain amount, but that would cost them profit.

      • Comment removed based on user account deletion

        • I have this vision that there's a crypto bro out there watching Breaking Bad and shouting at the TV "just use bitcoin you fool!"

      • Say one needs to move $30 billion from Moscow to Damascus with either crypto or cash. Which one do you think is far less of a headache? How high do you think denominations go? Do you think it's a simple matter to just lay hands on large amounts of physical currency in the first place, particularly one of a foreign country? Do you think about your questions before you type them, or is your nose so far up crypto's ass all you can see is your own malformed image of the 'future'?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by spun ( 1352 )

      Man, cash doesn't have an open ledger that anyone can read. Crypto is not the way to smuggle large quantities of money past sanctions. Is it great for rich folks in non-sanctioned countries to launder smaller amounts? Sure, great for that. Great for buying a dime bag. Not so great for buying serious weight. There is a paper trail, and it is not that anonymous when large amounts of cash and three letter agencies are involved.

      Russian Oligarchs who try to get past sanctions using crypto will find out the hard

    • NFT's are the tool for laundering....

    • Or if they want to circumvent sanctions or regulations...

      If these sanctions are unfair, it seems to be a good thing. Technologies which allow citizen to do illegal things also allow citizen to resist oppression. They are needed.

  • Of course they can't do that (Score:3)

    by bjdevil66 ( 583941 ) on Friday March 04, 2022 @02:54PM (#62326673)

    The world's response to Putin's "military action" in the Ukraine is a prime example of why crypto exists: to neutrally (with absolute certainty) protect the right for 1) EVERYONE to move their wealth around, and 2) protect individuals from the grasp of governments and politically motivated policies that discriminate.

    (And right or wrong, it would likely hurt their balance sheets extensively if these companies cut off their heaviest users.)

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • I think you are mistaken about how cryptocurrency "exchanges" work. It seems like what the 'bros call "crypto" is actually just exchanges holding people's money like a bank. The individual people do not have cryptographic wallets to which their currency is tied, it is tied to a wallet managed by the exchange. Thus sanctions would prevent the exchange from doing business with their customers - and effectively cut the customers off from their deposits.

      i.e. even calling the depository firms "exchanges" is

    • Given the high number of cryptocurrency thefts we have been reading about, I don't think it is actually protecting very much. But even so, I am not convinced that "moving wealth around" is an inalienable right. Criminals should not be able to move their wealth around, especially to flee justice.

      I know there is a flip side, wherein rebels need a way to protect their wealth from a tyrannical government. Well, that seems to be much more the exception than the rule in the case of cryptocurrency. And anyway,

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by nagora ( 177841 )

      The world's response to Putin's "military action" in the Ukraine is a prime example of why crypto exists: to neutrally (with absolute certainty) protect the right for 1) EVERYONE to move their wealth around, and 2) protect individuals from the grasp of governments and politically motivated policies that discriminate.

      (And right or wrong, it would likely hurt their balance sheets extensively if these companies cut off their heaviest users.)

      Why is that a right I should support? Do you want me to support the right for all murders to move about freely too? Or all thieves to keep their stolen goods?

      Your stance is anti-democratic and classic spoilt-brat snowflakism - waa, waa, I should allowed because I wanna!

      Go and polish your participation medals.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by quall ( 1441799 )

      And yet if the US government imposed a ban, they'd have to follow it. They even said that they would.

      Also, it's not discrimination if it's justified, such as being used to aid a country that is pushing for war.

      Crypto exists to screw over the people at the bottom of the pyramid. It's mostly used to move money away from the suckers who bought into it too late.

  • Grifters gonna grift (Score:3)

    by nucrash ( 549705 ) on Friday March 04, 2022 @02:59PM (#62326693)

    That's all I have to say. These organizations are going to grift and no moral quandary is going to stop them from grifting.

  • It's about time someone said no, we're not going to make ordinary Russians suffer because they haven't violently overthrown their government yet.

    And newsflash for all of you "just vote harder" types, you fucking idiots need to wrap your heads around the fact that Putin almost certainly did not get voted in with anywhere near the level of popular support he claims. He also tends to kill his opponents. Oh, and the Russian people barely have any guns compared to most Westerners, let alone Americans.

    So do, pray

    • Sure, the point isn't to harm the random Russian citizens. It's to have a dozen oligarchs staring down the barrel of 10 billion USD losses and thinking maybe it's time for his inner circle to turn on him. Since there is no more precise way known to do that (for instance, a way to prevent smurfing to get rubles in crypto) than shutting down the whole country, you need to shut down the whole country.

      • Sure, the point isn't to harm the random Russian citizens. It's to have a dozen oligarchs staring down the barrel of 10 billion USD losses and thinking maybe it's time for his inner circle to turn on him.

        There are many, many people who work around Putin who are not billionaire oligarchs, but they are millionaires with houses and assets abroad. Targeting their comfy life may be more effective than targeting a few billionaires who might lose access to the yacht that they use for a few weeks a year.

      • Because you have that right? Fucking ass-hole.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by MobyDisk ( 75490 )

      ...make ordinary Russians suffer...

      Would kicking Russians off Coinbase and Binance really harm "ordinary" Russians? It's not exactly what people use to buy groceries and gas. I suspect that most usage of Cryptocurrency is either speculation or money laundering.

      So do, pray tell, short of military coup, explain to us how the Russian people are supposed to solve this short of mobbing the security forces with melee weapons and dying by the truck load?

      You are right: that is exactly how they solve it. And the longer it takes before that happens, the more Ukrainians will die in the meantime. Should the Russian people wait until Ukrainians are dying by the truckload, before they act? Should they wait until Putin launches a nuke?

      I

      • ...make ordinary Russians suffer...

        Would kicking Russians off Coinbase and Binance really harm "ordinary" Russians? It's not exactly what people use to buy groceries and gas. I suspect that most usage of Cryptocurrency is either speculation or money laundering.

        So do, pray tell, short of military coup, explain to us how the Russian people are supposed to solve this short of mobbing the security forces with melee weapons and dying by the truck load?

        You are right: that is exactly how they solve it. And the longer it takes before that happens, the more Ukrainians will die in the meantime. Should the Russian people wait until Ukrainians are dying by the truckload, before they act? Should they wait until Putin launches a nuke?

        Imagine what happens if Russian blood is spent take back Democracy instead of setting up more dictatorships. An open, democratic Russia could be a force for world peace like we have never seen before. I am not Russian, so I won't pretend to know the situation on the ground there. But it sure seems to me that the only way to end the rein of a dictator is by a populist uprising. That sucks. I'm sorry. But no outside group can force Democracy onto someone.

        Boy, sure it'd be nice if Russia had something like second amendment, instead of utterly disarmed populace, and that populist uprising had even a remote chance of actually happening, eh?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by nagora ( 177841 )

      It's about time someone said no, we're not going to make ordinary Russians suffer

      Fuck, yeah. Those three innocent Russians holding crypto deserve exemption from blame for what their elected dictator is doing.

  • Let me preface this by saying I'm not a crypto bro. I had some, sold it a while back, dabbled in it at most. I think it's an interesting technology but BitCoin, Eth, etc.. are mostly pyramid scams at this point.

    But this is a wedge for Democrats to hammer away at crypto, and nothing more. For some reason the left _really_ hates all crypto related technologies of any kind. The OMG Russia will get money from crypto nonsense is a joke at best.

    First, you need on and off ramps - those go through banking so should

    • You can move crypto without the major exchanges! They are your on/off ramps. If you put your wallet into their hands then you are as stuck as you are with a bank. Making them block is just fine; it's like a currency exchange bank. You can spend crypto without a major exchange.

  • When the exchanges give in and freeze the crypto of people that the Authority doesnt like, it's only a matter of time before you become someone the Authority targets. We saw this in Canada with the Emergency Act and just going after bank accounts, rule-of-law be damned (and yes, I know they pretty much rolled it back; but once something is done once, it can be done again).

    • Please explain how anything done under the Emergencies Act, a law passed by parliament and legally implemented under the Charter, in any way involves "rule-of-law be damned".

      I have to ask: were you one of those pathetic clowns who hid behind children, prevented ambulances from bringing people to the hospital, assaulted and intimidated teenage fast food workers for wearing masks and pissed on our War Memorial?

      • "I have to ask: were you one of those pathetic clowns who hid behind children, prevented ambulances from bringing people to the hospital, assaulted and intimidated teenage fast food workers for wearing masks and pissed on our War Memorial?"

        There is literally ZERO proof any of what you said above is true.

        • There is literally ALL KINDS of proof. It must really sting that most of it was provided by right wing news media like The Toronto Sun and the National Post. It is widely recognized by real Canadians that when it became obvious at least some of these thugs would be held to account for their actions, they tried harder than a cat in a sand box to cover up what they'd done...mostly by denying it ever happened and blaming the victims.

          Just to show everybody else your claim there's no proof is false, I'll provi

          • My bad on the last link. It should be this:

            https://torontosun.com/opinion/bonokoski-the-freedom-convoy-crashed-and-burned [torontosun.com]

          • First, the Toronto Sun is one step away from being state run media (such as the CBC), so every thing they print is biased. W/ the Nazi flags...where are the pictures of them? There was one on the first day (carried by someone whose entire face was covered), but the protestors promptly kicked him out.

            Rather then relying on the media which was against the protest, go watch the hundreds of hours of man-on-the-street live streams (Viva Frei, Ottowalks, etc). They show a peaceful around parliament hill that k

            • LOL. You are 100% full of shit. There are lots of pictures of Nazi flags and swastikas, including one spray painted on one of the Queen's Park signs. And there's quite a lot of footage of people opposing the occupiers you seem to love. Seriously, you are a liar. Stop it.

    • The Emergency Act is literally a law. Using a law isn't ignoring the law.

  • Why would they kick off clients that are clearly going to use their exchange to facilitate a huge number of transactions when they could get a cut every time they exchange the currency? This is corporate psychopathy 101.

  • Lets get congress to take action.

  • That's the real worry here. If they cut out the Russians then a non-trivial amount of crypto currency might get converted back into fiat currency. The total real world value of crypto currency is a like any money, it's value in facilitating transactions. Take the yearly value of goods traded and divide that by the number of transactions a typical unit of CIRCULATING currency is used for and you get the total value of the currency. If you do this for crypto currencies you will see that 99.9% of the value
  • "Don't use this opportunity to make money hand over fist!"

    "lol wut?"
  • Have the Russian oligarchs load into crypto, seem like a great way to make their financial woes permanent.

  • Now if more Russians move on to crypto currencies, maybe that will finally make US ban crypto, which will be one good thing out of this.

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