OKX Blacklisted in Russia with No Prior Notice
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In response to a request from the Russian Prosecutor General’s office, the Russian government has blacklisted the popular exchange OKX without prior notice.
Russia Blocks OKX Access
OKX was recently included in the blacklist on the official website of Roskomsvoboda, an online censorship agency. According to another Russian agency (Roskomnadzor), OKX’s business operations violate Article 15.3 of Russia’s law on Information, Information Technologies, and Information Protection.
Roskomnadzor restricts sites that enable the dissemination of information for mass riots, extremist activities, or threats of mass disruption. OKX has made no public statements since the ban was imposed on Tuesday.
JUST IN: 🇷🇺 Russia blocks access to #crypto exchange OKX's website.
— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) October 5, 2022
Commenting on the recent development, Roskomsvoboda’s founder Artem Kozlyuk noted that affected online platforms are not always given prior notice of a blacklist, and the reasons behind the ban are not always stated. According to Kozlyuk, suing Roskomnadzor, the sister censorship agency, is the only option to find out the motivations for the unexpected action.
Both agencies were instituted to uphold Russian laws online. However, Roskomsvoboda leans more toward freedom, while Roskomnadzor conveys oversight of activities.
The Russian government had a run-in with the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange, Binance, in 2020. The crypto exchange was also caught unaware and had to fight the case in court to have it overturned.
According to the then Binance Head of Asia Gleb Kostarev, the platform received a notification from Roskomnadzor about a domain ban for disseminating prohibited information in the country. This was for promoting the use of cryptocurrencies in Russia. Binance was able to challenge the decision successfully, and it was overturned on January 2021.
Crypto Is for Circumventing Sanctions
The Russian populace has embraced cryptocurrencies to regain their financial power and preserve their wealth. However, the Russian government has not been entirely welcoming of a substitute for the Ruble.
In July 2022, Russian president Vladimir Putin signed into law a ban on using cryptocurrencies for making payments in the territory. This seemed like a limitation on Russian crypto users. However, it was a more considerate option to the Bank of Russia’s position to outrightly ban cryptocurrencies in the country.
The Russian government is now becoming more drawn to blockchain-based currencies due to its multiple sanctions following its war with Ukraine. Several European countries and the US have placed economic sanctions and cut trade partnerships with the country following its prolonged aggression against the Ukrainian government.
Fiat-backed stablecoins have become an attractive option in this harsh economic climate in a bid to navigate through the hurdles. According to Alexey Moiseyev, deputy finance minister, the nation may use stablecoins to speed up payments with “friendly countries.”
Moiseyev says the country is creating bilateral platforms to overturn the use of the dollar and euros. The new platforms would be used as clearing centers and rely heavily on tokenised instruments.
The Finance Ministry and Bank of Russia had earlier buttressed the point, stating that it would be impossible not to execute cross-border settlements with cryptocurrencies. The financial body hopes to succeed in its crypto use in cross-border payment settlement by the coming autumn session of the lower house of parliament.
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