U.S. lawmakers introduce bill that could force cryptocurrency exchanges to cut ties with Russian wallets

Rep. Brad Sherman will introduce a bill in the House of Representatives aimed at cracking down on U.S. businesses that process crypto transactions for Russian banks and individuals.

During a meeting with the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday, Sherman said he would introduce a companion bill to Sen. Elizabeth Warren's legislation that would give the Biden administration "clear authority to require cryptocurrencies subject to U.S. law." Exchanges stop facilitating transactions with Russian crypto wallets.” Warren, who first announced the legislation on March 8, later told a Senate Banking Committee hearing that she would introduce it on Thursday.

As of this writing, the text of neither bill is available through the Congressional Record. However, Warren’s proposed legislation would reportedly authorize the Treasury Department to prevent U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchanges from processing transactions from any crypto addresses of Russian citizens. Additionally, U.S. taxpayers will be required to report any foreign cryptocurrency transactions over $10,000 to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

“I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure that one of the tools available to governments is the ability to tell cryptocurrency exchanges that if they do business in the U.S., they can’t do business with Russia-based crypto wallets,” Sherman said. The crisis is over."
Rep. Brad Sherman speaks Thursday before the House Financial Services Committee

Sherman, who has made several previous statements against cryptocurrencies, including calls for a ban on digital assets, cited a statement by Ukraine's digital transformation minister requiring all exchanges to "block addresses of Russian users," and did not appear to limit the ban to the U.S. and Individuals and businesses on the EU sanctions list. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said the company will comply with sanctions but not block transactions related to all Russian crypto wallets, while Kraken CEO Jesse Powell said there must be a legal requirement for the exchange to freeze accounts in Russia.

“We will not unilaterally freeze the accounts of millions of innocent users,” a Binance spokesperson told Cointelegraph in February. "Cryptocurrencies are designed to provide greater financial freedom to people around the globe."

I ask all major cryptocurrency exchanges to block the addresses of Russian users.

It is crucial not only to freeze addresses related to Russian and Belarusian politicians but also to compromise the addresses of ordinary users.

— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) February 27, 2022

Michael Chobanian, the founder of Ukraine's Kuna cryptocurrency exchange, said on Thursday that the platform has discontinued "all support for the Russian ruble." However, his calls to cryptocurrency exchanges, which include blocking "any interaction with sanctioned individuals," do not appear to be blocking wallets held by all Russian citizens, both domestic and foreign.
Source: BITCOIN86