FTX CEO Denied Allegations About Russians Using Crypto to Avoid Sanctions

Sam Bankman-Fried, During the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine, he is dissatisfied with the general impression of the bitcoin sector.

With the start of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, cryptocurrencies have played a number of roles, including being used as donations to help the besieged nation, as well as allegations that Russian billionaires utilized such assets to circumvent sanctions.

However, community insiders continue to reject these charges, with FTX’s founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, being the most recent to do so.

Crypto insiders were not pleased

It’s been over a month since Russia initiated a “special military operation” against its eastern neighbor, which quickly escalated into a full-fledged war. While the presidents of the two former Soviet republics have met several times in an attempt to resolve the problem, little progress has been made.

Countless nations throughout the globe continue to impose further sanctions on Russia’s financial infrastructure, several of its billionaires, and other persons close to President Putin, despite refusing to become involved directly in the issue.

During this time, the term cryptocurrency gained popularity as some observers feared that Russia’s elite may use it to circumvent sanctions.

Crypto insiders were not pleased, as one could assume. The CEOs of Coinbase and Ripple recently explained why they believe oligarchs are unable to utilize digital assets in this way. FTX’s CEO and founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, joined the group.

Russia and FTX

While numerous prominent digital asset trading platforms, including Binance, Coinbase, FTX, Kraken, and others, first stated that barring Russian-based firms would go against crypto’s essence, some had to modify their minds.

This followed the introduction of measures by the US and other watchdogs prohibiting financial institutions from dealing with Russian banks and consumers. Coinbase has banned 25,000 accounts allegedly related to Russians subject to sanctions.

Reuters’ storey, on the other hand, confirmed that FTX continues to enable non-sanctioned Russian customers to trade, but that the company is still in contact with US regulators concerning its activities.

Impact on Cryptocurrency Market

The whole bitcoin market went red in the hours following Russia’s “special military operation.” Bitcoin, for example, fell by around $5,000 to slightly over $34,000 per month.

Altcoins were hit considerably worse, with double-digit price drops. The tides began to change after US President Joe Biden stated that the government has no intention of directly participating in the fight.

Bitcoin quickly regained all of its losses and is now trading near $40,000. As most cryptocurrencies went on the attack, the total market valuation increased by over $150 billion to over $1.7 trillion.

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Andrew is a blockchain developer who developed his interest in cryptocurrencies while his post-graduation. He is a keen observer of details and shares his passion for writing along with being a developer. His backend knowledge about blockchain helps him give a unique perspective to his writing