Binance founder Changpeng Zhao claims that Cryptocurrency exchanges will abide by particular restrictions but rejects a blanket prohibition.

Cryptocurrency exchanges should not ban transactions by Russian customers, according to the founder of one of the largest trading platforms, amid fears that digital currencies would be used to circumvent sanctions.

Changpeng Zhao, Binance’s CEO and founder stated that the business was “not in a position to sanction, like, populations of individuals.” “In Russia, there are a few hundred people on the international sanctions list, largely politicians, and we adhere to that,” Zhao told BBC Radio 4’s Today program.

Humanity first. https://t.co/p5JmbiAC4o

— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) March 14, 2022

“We distinguish between Russian politicians who launch wars and ordinary Russians; many ordinary Russians oppose the war.” “We are not political, we are opposed to war, but we are here to aid the people,” he added.

The UK, European Union, the United States, and Canada took steps over the weekend to exclude Russian banks from Swift, the actual global payments messaging system used by banks, and block Russia’s central bank from accessing its foreign currency reserves.

Also, read – Crypto Exchange Binance has blocked Russian users

Some believe that the Russian government and banks may try to utilize cryptocurrency as a backdoor, as an alternative to the international exchange. Zhao, who goes by the moniker “CZ,” claimed he didn’t know how many of the platform’s accounts had been frozen due to ties to Russia but insisted that Binance knows who its clients are and would not allow sanctioned individuals to use its services. Ukraine’s deputy prime minister has urged cryptocurrency exchanges to block all Russian customers’ addresses.

“We are not debating the appropriate degree of sanctions. Zhao stated, “We don’t construct penalty lists.” “Globally, there are tens of thousands of swaps.” Many of them are relatively small, and many are not exceptionally safe. Many of them aren’t as obedient. We have no control over the industry. Guess what? I can post my sanction list, and you can publish yours. It won’t be followed by anybody else. It simply redirects Russian users to smaller platforms.”

Zhao stated that cryptocurrencies stored on a decentralized ledger would not allow people to avoid sanctions. “There are always many strategies for people to circumvent penalties.” Sanctions can be avoided by utilizing US dollars, cash, diamonds, or gold. There’s nothing exceptional about crypto there, in my opinion.”

Zhao, whose personal wealth is estimated to be $1.9 billion (£1 billion) by Forbes magazine’s list of billionaires, announced that Binance had donated $10 million to aid the humanitarian effort in Ukraine and assist those fleeing the crisis.