{"id":9376,"date":"2022-03-17T23:47:37","date_gmt":"2022-03-17T23:47:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/crypto\/us-lawmakers-introduce-bills-that-could-force-crypto-exchanges-to-cut-ties-with-russian-wallets\/"},"modified":"2022-03-17T23:47:39","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T23:47:39","slug":"us-lawmakers-introduce-bills-that-could-force-crypto-exchanges-to-cut-ties-with-russian-wallets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/crypto\/us-lawmakers-introduce-bills-that-could-force-crypto-exchanges-to-cut-ties-with-russian-wallets\/","title":{"rendered":"US lawmakers introduce bills that could force crypto exchanges to cut ties with Russian wallets"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Representative Brad Sherman will be introducing a bill in the House aimed at cracking down on U.S. businesses handling crypto transactions for Russian banks and individuals.<\/p>\n

Speaking at a hybrid markup meeting with the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday, Sherman said he will be introducing a companion bill to Senator Elizabeth Warren\u2019s legislation that would give the Biden administration \u201cexplicit authority to require that crypto exchanges that are subject to U.S. law stop facilitating transactions with Russian-based crypto wallets.\u201d Warren first announced<\/a> the legislation on March 8, later saying during a Senate Banking Committee hearing she will be introducing the bill on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Neither bill’s text is available through congressional records at the time of publication. However, Warren\u2019s proposed legislation would reportedly give the Treasury Department the authority to stop crypto exchanges under U.S. jurisdiction from processing transactions from any crypto addresses belonging to Russian nationals. In addition, U.S. taxpayers would be required to report any crypto transactions outside the country exceeding $10,000 to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN.<\/p>\n

\u201c[I] look forward to joining with my colleagues to make sure that one of the tools available to the administration is the ability to tell crypto exchanges if they\u2019re doing business in the United States, they can\u2019t do business with Russia-based crypto wallets until this crisis is over,\u201d said Sherman.<\/p>\n

Representative Brad Sherman addressing the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Related: <\/em><\/strong>Congressional candidate seeking to unseat anti-crypto Brad Sherman is accepting contributions via Lightning<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sherman, who has previously made several anti-crypto statements including calling for a ban on digital assets, cited Ukraine\u2019s Minister of Digital Transformation asking<\/a> for all exchanges \u201cto block addresses of Russian users\u201d seemingly without restricting the ban to individuals and businesses named in U.S. and EU sanctions. Binance CEO\u00a0Changpeng Zhao\u00a0said<\/a> the firm would comply with sanctions but not block transactions connected to all Russia crypto wallets, while\u00a0Kraken CEO Jesse Powell\u00a0said<\/a> there would have to be a legal requirement for the\u00a0exchange to freeze Russian accounts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not going to unilaterally freeze millions of innocent users\u2019 accounts,” a Binance spokesperson told Cointelegraph in February. “Crypto is meant to provide greater financial freedom for people across the globe.\u201d<\/p>\n

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I’m asking all major crypto exchanges to block addresses of Russian users. <\/p>\n

It’s crucial to freeze not only the addresses linked to Russian and Belarusian politicians, but also to sabotage ordinary users.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) February 27, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Michael Chobanian, the founder of Ukraine\u2019s Kuna crypto exchange, said on Thursday the platform had stopped \u201call support for the Russian ruble.\u201d However, his call to crypto exchanges included blocking \u201cany interaction with sanctioned individuals,\u201d seemingly not all wallets held by Russian nationals based in the country or abroad.\u00a0<\/p>\n