Finnish crypto exchange blocks Russians' wallets

In the eighth month of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Finnish cryptocurrency exchange LocalBitcoins notified the citizens of the occupying country of the termination of service due to European sanctions against the Russian Federation.

LocalBitcoins reports that citizens of the Russian Federation will no longer be able to use the service. An exception is made only for persons with dual citizenship of the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland, according to hardwo.com.

Russian clients will be able to withdraw funds in one transaction, after which access to their wallets will be closed.

The decision to block the wallets of Russians was caused by the introduction of the eighth package of EU sanctions, which provides for tougher restrictions on the use of digital assets by citizens of the Russian Federation. Accordingly, crypto companies were completely banned from serving Russian users, regardless of the amount of assets in their accounts.

LocalBitcoins is a peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency exchange that provides its users with the ability to buy and sell Bitcoin.