According to the email, Russian citizens or residents will not be able to access BitMEX services from the European Union from July 11.
BitMEX is looking to become more compliant with Western sanctions against Russia after the latter invaded Ukraine on February 24.
In the aftermath of the invasion, European governments announced sweeping sanctions to drive a regime change and cause the economic collapse of Russia. Since then, many international companies have blocked Russian users from their services.
Earlier, there were also clamors for crypto exchanges to holistically shut down their services for Russian users. However, several crypto industry leaders, including Ripple’s Brad Garlinghouse and Binance‘s Changpeng Zhao stated that the Kremlin couldn’t fund its war using crypto.
They noted that exchanges were already sanction-compliant. Instead, the exchanges began to offer restricted services to Russian users. In April, Binance put Russian users into withdraw-only mode.
Now BitMEX is upgrading its policy on restricted jurisdictions to comply with different European restrictions. The firm notified several affected users via email on Monday.
According to the email, Russian citizens or residents will not be able to access BitMEX services from the European Union from July 11. As a result, the users will not be able to log into their trading accounts or access the services from the European Union.
The additional restriction on Russians will not affect Russian citizens residing in the EU or who have dual citizenship. Such individuals have been asked to submit additional information to apply for an exemption. Also, the email does not state how the restriction will affect Russian customers.
How has the Restriction on Russians Affected the War?
Earlier in March, President Biden noted that the sanctions would crush Russia’s economy and crash the Ruble. However, till now, the effect has been largely ineffective, with Russia intent on pursuing its objectives to the end.
Reports suggest that Russia now occupies as much as a fifth of Ukrainian territory, including more than 90 percent of its energy resources. Also, Russia is now in control of Ukraine’s port and shipping facilities. Meanwhile, the Ruble has reached a seven-year high against the dollar instead of crashing.
Contrarily, the sanctions have caused a spike in global fuel prices and inflation. In Europe, oil prices are six times higher than they cost last year. The war has also disrupted supply chains and put many countries on the brink of recession.
With the looming global fuel and food crisis, the last has yet to be seen on the sanctions and restrictions.
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