Bitfinex refused to freeze the accounts of Russians who did not fall under the sanctions

A representative of the Bitfinex crypto exchange said that the platform would not unilaterally freeze the accounts of Russian users.

A subsidiary of Tether, the world’s largest provider of the USDT stablecoin, has no plans to block the accounts of Russians who are not sanctioned. The representative of Bitfinex noted that the exchange has taken appropriate measures in relation to the accounts of those who are still affected by the sanctions of the United States and other countries of the world.

The company is confident that blocking ordinary users from Russia due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine would be unfair from a “human point of view”. Since the actions of the Russian government may not reflect the views of ordinary users. The representative of the crypto-exchange stressed that if the company is not forced, then the accounts of the Russians will remain unblocked.

Earlier, Michael Carter, director of compliance at Bittrex crypto exchange, said that the company will comply with the requirements of the sanctions, but will not just block the accounts of law-abiding citizens. The same approach is followed by the Exmo cryptocurrency exchange. Bitfinex is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world with a daily trading volume of over $800 million. In early 2021, the company paid a fine of $18.5 million to drop charges from the New York prosecutor’s office.