Cryptocurrency exchanges allowing trades for Russian clients

Two major cryptocurrency exchanges continue to allow clients of sanctioned Russian banks to trade on their platforms, according to a report by digital asset data analysis firm Inca Digital.

The report revealed that Huobi and KuCoin allowed cryptocurrency traders to use debit cards issued by sanctioned Russian banks such as Sberbank.

Adam Zarazinski, CEO of Enka Digital, said in an interview that what the two exchanges did was in violation of US and European sanctions, and that most of the trading focused on the stablecoin Tether, which has come under special scrutiny from regulators.

“Russians rely a lot on Tether to move money out of the country, and exchanges often use it to provide crypto banking services to sanctioned Russian banks,” Zarazinsky added.

Huobi advisor Justin Sun did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the report, and representatives for Ko-Coin and Tether did not immediately respond to separate requests for comment.