Ukrainian vice prime minister requests Tether to block Russian transactions

The Ukraine vice prime minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, has asked Tether, the largest stablecoin issuer, to stop transacting with Russian users. This comes as Ukraine continues to advocate for more action that will halt the Russian invasion of the country.

Fedorov has been at the forefront of boosting digital asset usage in Ukraine during the ongoing war. He has also been vocal in urging the crypto sector to stop transacting in Russia.

Ukraine asks Tether to halt stop Russian transactions

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Fedorov has asked Tether to halt any transactions with Russian users. Tether is the largest stablecoin by trading volumes and market cap. Most of the trades in the crypto sector are conducted through USDT.

“Today, the entire democratic world has united against Russia to punish the bloody invaders economically. I call on Tether (and Paolo Arduino – CTO) to stop any transactions with the Russians! For Peace!” Fedorov said. Tether is yet to issue a response to this.

The replies to this tweet were full of mixed reactions. Some supported that Tether should indeed halt transactions with Russian crypto traders. However, some stated that cryptocurrencies were built to withstand censorship; hence such a move would go against the ideals of the sector.

Request to halt Russia crypto activities

Fedorov urged all cryptocurrency exchanges to halt transacting with Russian users towards the end of last month. However, some exchanges have failed to impose such a ban.

Coinbase, the largest US-based exchange, announced that it had blocked 25,000 Russian users linked to illicit activities. However, the exchange’s CEO noted that the platform would only comply in halting transactions with sanctioned Russian individuals and entities.

Binance and Kraken have also noted that they will not block all Russian users on the platform unless there is a legal requirement. However, some of the largest exchanges in South Korea have stated that they will impose a unilateral ban on all Russian users.

The resistance of cryptocurrencies towards censorship was seen during the Freedom Convoy protests in Canada. The protestors were forced to shift towards crypto after their bank accounts were frozen. However, the censorship-resistance of crypto only lies in using self-custodial wallets.