US-based cryptocurrency exchange CoinZoom is pausing its acceptance of applications for new accounts within Russia following the country’s ongoing conflict with Ukraine, the company’s chief executive officer told Reuters.
CoinZoom is one of the first crypto exchanges to stop new business operations in Russia, with most exchanges so far declining to block Russian users despite calls from the Ukrainian government.
Also Read | White House to issue first major executive order to regulate crypto: Report
Binance, Coinbase and Kraken have said that they will comply with Western sanctions but they would not block Russian accounts until there is a legal requirement to do so.
CoinZoom decided to suspend new accounts because it was unclear how customers would fund them now that many major payment firms are pulling out of Russia, said Chief Executive Officer Todd Crosland.
Also Read | Ukrainian government receives over $52 million in cryptocurrency donations
“It’s a very fluid situation in Russia right now and it’s very fluid with regulators, so being able to fund your account with a wire or a debit card, Mastercard, Visa – all of those funding mechanisms are being basically eliminated for Russian customers right now,” Crosland said in an interview.
Crosland said CoinZoom is not blocking its existing Russian account holders but it is screening them against sanctions lists.
Also Read | Explained: How US sanctions on Russian energy affects its domestic market
Salt Lake City, Utah, based CoinZoom is a relatively small exchange, with approximately $2 million in trading volume over the last 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap.
On Saturday, US payments firms Visa Inc and Mastercard Inc announced that they were suspending operations in Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
Also Read | Dogecoin and Elon Musk: Ukraine’s newest attempt to tackle Russia
Since Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov asked crypto exchanges to block the digital wallet addresses of Russian users last month, crypto exchanges have faced criticism for refusing to block Russian users.
Kraken CEO Jesse Powell on Twitter said cryptocurrencies’ “libertarian values” are one of the main reasons Kraken would continue to operate in Russia.
Banning access to crypto “would fly in the face of the reason why crypto exists,” said a Binance spokesperson in a statement.