Russia and Ukraine: Head of cryptocurrency platform Binance rules out banning Russian customers

The head of one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges has ruled out banning Russian citizens from using his platform.

"A lot of ordinary Russians don't agree to war," Zhang Bingchao, founder and chief executive of Binance, told the BBC.

Ukraine has asked major cryptocurrency exchanges to ban Russian users.

A financial expert warned that the war could turn into a "digital conflict".

In a tweet on Sunday, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mikhailo Fedorov called on major cryptocurrency exchanges to ban ordinary Russian users, not just politicians.

According to Reuters news agency, the value of the digital currency "Bitcoin" has risen by 13 percent since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

There has also been speculation that Russian business tycoons may inject their money into cryptocurrencies to avoid sanctions and other restrictions.

The British newspaper, The Telegraph, described cryptocurrencies as “Putin’s powerful weapon in the face of sanctions.”

financial freedom"

In a statement published earlier, Binance said it would not unilaterally freeze millions of accounts of "innocent users".

"Cryptography aims to provide the greatest amount of financial freedom to people around the world," the company told the BBC.

It added that any unilateral ban would have an "adverse effect" on the existence of cryptocurrencies.

But "while minimizing the impact on innocent users", it was taking the necessary steps to implement the sanctions.