Cryptocurrencies have become an interesting subject of conversation due to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.
The CEO of Circle, Jeremy Allaire believes that cryptocurrency is a double-edged sword amidst the ongoing war in Ukraine. He stated that the situation in Ukraine makes cryptocurrencies a paradox for both the participants and regulators.
Allaire said this during an interview with Bloomberg, adding that the use cases of cryptocurrencies have taken centre stage in the current situation. He said;
“People are celebrating that. But it also allows people to evade things. The open internet is a double-edged sword, and that’s the case with crypto.”
Cryptocurrencies have become crucial in the ongoing war in Ukraine. They are used to raise funds to purchase food, clothing, medicine, evacuation, and repairs for the general masses.
However, Russian companies and individuals might also be leveraging cryptocurrencies to circumvent the financial sanctions imposed by western countries.
There have been calls to freeze cryptocurrency exchange accounts belonging to Russians. However, the CEOs of Kraken and Binance crypto exchanges have both refused to do so.
According to Changpeng Zhao of Binance and Jesse Powell of Kraken, freezing the accounts belonging to Russians would go against what cryptocurrencies stand for. Cryptocurrencies are supposed to work in the opposite manner as centralized entities, they added. A Binance spokesperson said;
“We are not going to unilaterally freeze millions of innocent users’ accounts. Crypto is meant to provide greater financial freedom for people across the globe. To unilaterally decide to ban people’s access to their crypto would fly in the face of the reason why crypto exists.”
The cryptocurrency exchange added that;
“It is taking the steps necessary to ensure we take action against those that have had sanctions levied against them while minimizing impact to innocent users.”
The Ukrainian government has received millions of dollars in aid from cryptocurrency investors in recent days.
