The European Union will prohibit deposits to crypto wallets, in addition to the sale of banknotes and transferable securities denominated in any official currencies of EU members to Russia.
The move comes after the West levied back-to-back sanctions on Russia, which are squarely aimed at destabilizing Russia’s war machine. However, politicos voiced concerns that Russia will soon turn to the comfort of cryptocurrency – or worse, China – to escape the blows to its economy.
Though crypto exchanges in the EU have been required to comply with sanctions barring transactions from targeted individuals, these new sanctions aim to close remaining loopholes – namely by gathering personal information when their customers transfer crypto to external wallets.
“The European Commission welcomes today’s agreement by the Council to adopt a fifth package of restrictive measures against Putin’s regime in response to its brutal aggression against Ukraine and its people,” as per the European Commission’s website.
However, most of these new sanctions might just be positioning – but little evidence exists to support that crypto is actually helping Russia.
If it was, though, it would be ironic: Russia proposed banning crypto mining, and now this ban on crypto wallets will end the hopes of many living in the country. It is getting murkier every day, causing the common person to suffer the most.