Kraken has now become the latest cryptocurrency exchange to restrict accounts of Russian users on its platform. Kraken did this step in compliance with sanctions from the European Union. On the 19th of October, Kraken halted services to its Russian customers by sending out email statements to its Russian clients.
According to Cointelegraph, in the email statement, Kraken said that due to the new European legislation, they have to take measures to restrict your Kraken account. They also said that with a request, Russian users would be able to withdraw their funds.
Kraken said that they would update their support center if there were any changes, and they apologized for the inconvenience caused. However, it didn’t explain whether there’s a time limitation to withdraw the funds from the Kraken exchange for Russian citizens.
Kraken’s spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the firm, Kraken, complies with the legal and regulatory requirements in all jurisdictions of its operations. Moreover, the spokesperson said that since the European’s announcement, they have been working to make the changes required to comply with the latest package of sanctions against Russia.
It’s not the first time Kraken that it shut down certain accounts following regulators. In February 2022, Jesse Powell, former CEO of Kraken, condemned the Canadian authorities, who were involved in funding local COVID-19 protests. At that time, Powell said that If you’re worried about it, don’t keep your funds with any centralized or regulated custodian, because they cannot protect you.
Kraken, after restricting Russian users on its platform, has joined that group of crypto exchanges and wallets that also restricted Russian users in compliance with the latest EU sanctions against Russia. The popular ones who stopped serving Russia are Crypto.com, Blockchain.com, and LocalBitcoins.
