Coinbase Blocks Over 25,000 Russian Accounts

Leading crypto exchange Coinbase announced blocking over 25,000 addresses that belong to Russian users. The company believes that the users were engaged in illegal activities.

An article by the Chief Legal Officer of Coinbase, Paul Grewal, states that the platform is committed to complying with sanctions imposed by various governments around the world. The exchange blocks access to sanctioned persons and entities.

It was mentioned in the announcement that Coinbase requires identity verification when new users want to sign up. If a customer lives in a sanctioned country or region, and if they are identified as sanctioned actors, they can't open an account on Coinbase. Along with this, the company regularly updates the lists to block the addresses that were sanctioned afterward.

Coinbase wrote the team identified addresses being engaged in illicit activities on its own and shared data with the government to support sanctions enforcement further. Earlier, the CEO of the company, Brian Armstrong said that the company doesn't have an intention to ban all Russian users unless the law tells otherwise.