US Propose Bills To Force Crypto Exchanges To Cut Out Russian Wallets
U.S. Representative Brad Sherman is planning to introduce a bill in the House with the purpose of blocking U.S. businesses handling crypto transactions for Russian banks and individuals.
Sherman spoke in front of the House Financial Services Committee saying he will be introducing a companion bill to Senator Elizabeth Warren’s legislation that would grant the Biden administration “explicit authority to require that crypto exchanges that are subject to U.S. law stop facilitating transactions with Russian-based crypto wallets.”
Warren first announced the legislation on March 8, later saying during a Senate Banking Committee hearing she will be introducing the bill on Thursday.
I'll be speaking soon with @Mitchellreports on @MSNBC about my new bill to ensure crypto isn't used by Putin and his cronies to undermine our economic sanctions. Hope you'll tune in! https://t.co/H8iTnA5Ulw
Warren’s proposed legislation would reportedly provide the Treasury Department the authority to stop crypto exchanges under U.S. jurisdiction from processing transactions from any crypto addresses belonging to Russian nationals. Also, the U.S. taxpayers would be required to report any crypto transactions outside the country exceeding $10,000 to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
Sherman commented:
“I look forward to joining with my colleagues to make sure that one of the tools available to the administration is the ability to tell crypto exchanges if they’re doing business in the United States, they can’t do business with Russia-based crypto wallets until this crisis is over.”
Sherman, has earlier made anti-crypto statements, calling for a ban on digital assets. He now cited Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation asking for all exchanges “to block addresses of Russian users” seemingly without restricting the ban to individuals and businesses named in U.S. and EU sanctions.
Binance’s CEO Changpeng Zhao has commented that his crypto exchange would comply with sanctions but not block transactions connected to all Russia crypto wallets. Kraken’s CEO Jesse Powell made comments that there would have to be a legal requirement for the exchange to freeze Russian accounts.
Meanwhile, Michael Chobanian, the founder of Ukraine’s Kuna crypto exchange, said on Thursday that they have stopped “all support for the Russian ruble.” However, his call to crypto exchanges included blocking “any interaction with sanctioned individuals,” but not all wallets held by Russian nationals based in the country or abroad.
