Whales Rise During Ukraine Russia War. Exchanges Put on Alert

Ukraine Russia war is driving the accumulation of and sanctions on crypto.

Amidst the Ukraine-Russia war, many countries have imposed economic sanctions on Russia.

Accumulation of Crypto

This has led to an increase in the number of blockchain wallet addresses with more than 1,000 bitcoins (around $43 million).

The figure increased by nearly 5% to a total of 2,226 on February 28, according to data tracked by Block Crypto. The number has not been that high since June 2021.

Even the number of addresses with more than 100 bitcoins stored has also risen but by a modest 1.3% to 15,953.

Exchanges Asked to Take Action Against Russia

The whole world is closely observing the conflict.

United States Government has asked crypto exchanges to close down the accounts of Russian politicians, reported Bloomberg.

The Ukrainian Government has also made such a request to crypto exchanges.

Its Vice President, Mykhailo Fedorov appealed to the crypto community.

Ukrainian crypto community is ready to provide a generous reward for any information about crypto-wallets of Russian and Belarusian politicians and their surroundings. War crimes must be pursued and punished! To share info please contact in Telegram: https://t.co/XHidwUQ8bE.

— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) February 26, 2022

“We’re blocking accounts of those on the sanctions list (if they have Binance accounts) and ensuring that all sanctions are met in full,” a spokesperson for Binance told Reuters.

But it will not freeze the accounts of others.

FTX is consulting with officials in the U.S. and Bahamas, where the firm is headquartered, on the proper course of action and plans to keep applying laws related to sanctioned countries, the firm said in a statement.

Jesse Powell, co-founder and CEO of Kraken Exchange, said, “I understand the rationale for this request but, despite my deep respect for the Ukrainian people, Kraken Exchange cannot freeze the accounts of our Russian clients without a legal requirement to do so. Russians should be aware that such a requirement could be imminent.”

Last week, Russia was removed from the SWIFT international payment system.

These sanctions are hurting the common people of Russia too. Hopefully, crypto exchanges will not be doing so.

Russian Ruble has crashed by 40% in the international market. Even Ukrainian hryvnia posted a 7-year low. Citizens of both these countries might invest in crypto to hedge their holdings against inflation. Ukraine even legalized crypto a few days before the war began.

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