Despite Hillary Clinton’s Critique, Coinbase is still open for Russians

This article was originally published in CryptoStars.

Coinbase believes that crypto could be a saving grace for everyday Russians in the face of a ruined economy

Economic sanctions are a powerful tool of modern war. There are several examples from recent history, where sanctions were used by the US and their allies to sway international affairs and ensure compliance. Given their effectiveness, the west has issued unprecedented sanctions on Russia, which could potentially lead to the destruction of the Russian economy. While the function of sanctions is to control the state, the impact is also felt on the ground and can be crippling for ordinary citizens surviving inside of a sanctioned state.

The Ruble has crashed, the Russian economy is experiencing 17% inflation, and many Russians on the ground are turning towards alternative currencies, including cryptocurrencies, to protect their finances. In response to this, Coinbase CEO, Brian Armstrong, stated

“Some ordinary Russians are using crypto as a lifeline now that their currency has collapsed. Many of them likely oppose what their country is doing, and a ban would hurt them…” — Brian Armstrong

Armstrong posted a series of tweets notifying the world, that Coinbase, the second-largest crypto exchange in the world, will not pre-emptively ban Russians from accessing their platform. Armstrong insists that Coinbase will follow the law, but at this point, there is no legal reason to ban Russians’ access to the platform.

Armstrong’s series of tweets may have been a response to former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton’s public dismay that some of the top exchanges (including Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken) are refusing to full-scale ban any Russian access. During an interview with Rachel Maddow, Clinton said

“I was disappointed to see that some of the so-called crypto exchanges, not all of them, but some of them, are refusing to end transactions with Russia, from some, I don’t know, philosophy of libertarianism or whatever,” — Hillary Clinton

Clinton, and other heavy-hitting Democrats, are concerned that Russia may use crypto to bypass sanctions. Since Clinton’s interview aired, Armstrong Tweeted that he doubts Russian oligarchs are using crypto to avoid sanctions because of the open transparent nature of the blockchain open ledger. He claims that U.S. dollars, art, and gold, are far less traceable and would be a more ideal option for sanction circumvention.

While the jury is still out on if Russia will be able to bypass sanctions using crypto, it is clear that Armstrong and Coinbase are standing by their belief that “everyone deserves access to basic financial services unless the law says otherwise.”

What are your thoughts? Do you believe that crypto plays an important role in remaining accessible to individuals on the ground, despite the actions of their state? Write a comment and let me know below.

Note: I’m not a financial advisor, I write for educational/entertainment purposes only. Nothing in this or any of my other articles constitutes financial or legal advice.