Popular American cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has announced that it will block Russian accounts on its platform, in accordance with sanctions imposed by the European Union.
All Kraken services discontinued for Russian users
Kraken made this known to its Russian users via an email statement. All services of the crypto exchange will be discontinued for this customer group. All users can withdraw their funds from their account through a request. The company said the following about this:
Due to new European legislation, we have to take measures to limit your Kraken account. We apologize for the inconvenience caused.
No specification of time limit for withdrawals
It is worth noting that Kraken has not specified a time limit to withdraw the money from the exchange for anyone who is now subject to an account restriction.
Kraken is certainly not the first crypto exchange to place restrictions on Russian accounts. Since the start of Russia’s war on Ukraine, several cryptocurrency exchanges have imposed restrictions on Russian accounts. The number of crypto exchanges that impose restrictions is also still increasing. This is in line with the latest EU sanctions against Russia. Several crypto companies, including Blockchain.com, Crypto.com and LocalBitcoins, have since ceased their activities for Russians. This list is expected to grow rapidly.