
Interest in non-fungible tokens is declining. This is evidenced by the reduction in the number of “NFT” searches on Google to the values of October last year, which preceded the boom in gaming tokens and metaverses. This data confirms declining volumes on the leading OpenSea marketplace, as well as activity across different blockchains.
The record number of sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation did not bypass the cryptocurrency industry. Many services have restricted access to residents of the Russian Federation, and some countries have taken measures to stop circumventing these restrictions with the help of cryptocurrencies.
Among completely restricting access for users from the Russian Federation – the publisher of NFT games Animoca Brands, the largest cryptocurrency exchanges of Ukraine Kuna and WhiteBIT, for new users access was limited by the British CEX.io, South Korean Bithumb, Upbit, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax, mining pools Ethermine and Flexpool, issuer of stablecoin USDC circle company.
Willingness to block individual users from sanctions lists upon request expressed by Binance, Coinbase and Tether (later Coinbase blocked 25,000 RF-related addresses), MetaMask and OpenSea, as well as Ripple.
The European Union announced its intention to include in the new package of sanctions against the Russian Federation restrictions on the cryptocurrency assets of officials and oligarchs involved in unleashing the war with Ukraine. The corresponding bill was presented in the USA.
The Japanese authorities have ordered local crypto firms to comply with sanctions against Russia. Later it became known that the government will revise the provisions of the law on foreign exchange and foreign trade to combat Russian sanctions evasion through crypto assets.
It is worth highlighting individual initiatives in the industry. Dubai’s proactive stance on cryptocurrencies has enabled a number of platforms to be licensed to do business in the region, with plans to open headquarters. Among them are Binance, FTX, Crypto.com and Bybit. FTX has also established a division, FTX Europe, licensed by the Cypriot financial regulator. Binance received a license from the Central Bank of Bahrain.
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