EU seeks to block crypto wallets linked to sanctioned Russians

The European Union is once again showing support for Ukraine during the ongoing war. The EU is now imposing further sanctions on Russia that targets cryptocurrency wallets and the deposits made to these wallets by sanctioned individuals.

EU plans to block crypto wallets

The EU is now imposing a crypto wallet ban in Russia. The bloc has now outlawed unhosted, and self-hosted crypto wallets on its Transfer of Funds Regulation (TFR) legislation voted upon last month.

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“These latest sanctions were adopted following the atrocities committed by Russian armed forces in Bucha and other places under Russian occupation,” said Josep Borrell, a diplomat of the EU.

The EU has said that the legislation will be part of an anti-money laundering strategy that would be taken to protect the member states. The legislation will introduce rules that mandate cryptocurrency exchanges to gather and report details of the sender and recipient in crypto transactions that surpass 1000 euros.

The EU is also looking into the effects of cryptocurrencies on the environment. The EU had proposed a ban on proof of work mining, but EU legislatures voted against this ban.

Crypto sector opposes EU plans

The European Union has taken a harsh stance in regulating cryptocurrencies. Some of the notable players in the crypto sector have opposed the regulations being proposed by the EU. The CEO of Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, has called upon the EU to create a favourable crypto environment.

Armstrong noted that the EU would erode user privacy if its new crypto regulations were implemented. The executive noted that the crypto regulations were “anti-innovation, anti-privacy and anti-law.”

Additionally, Blockchain for Europe, which represents the global crypto industry, has said that the EU proposals would hinder the advancement of other friendly regulations in the EU crypto market. The crypto community has continued saying that cryptocurrencies cannot be used by Russia and Belarus to avoid Western sanctions. Chainalysis, a blockchain analytics firm, has released a suite of screening tools for the crypto sector to monitor imposed sanctions. Crypto exchanges have also taken measures to block sanctioned individuals and institutions.