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On Thursday, a leading flow developer of Blockchain, Dapper Labs, announced that it suspended all the Russian accounts as the European Union imposed multiple bans on Russia’s crypto industry. According to the statement from the EU, the prohibitions are imposed on Russia’s crypto asset wallets, crypto accounts and custody services regardless of the total asset value stored in them.
Dapper Bans NFT Transactions In Russia
On 6 October, Dapper Labs announced that it had put restrictions on Russian accounts and stopped executing payments on the platform following the EU’s recent announcement by the end of last week. According to Dapper, the accounts that belong to Russian citizens will not be able to buy, sell and send non-fungible tokens (NFT) to others from now on. Moreover, Dapper also banned withdrawing or adding funds to their crypto wallets.
Dapper stated in a press release, “It is now prohibited to provide crypto-asset wallet, account, or custody services of any value to accounts with connections to Russia, irrespective of the amount of the wallet.” However, the firm has not closed the crypto accounts of Russian holders, as Dapper further stated, “However, Dapper has not closed the accounts. Users impacted by these actions can continue to access and view their NFTs. Additionally, regardless of this new regulation, any NFT previously purchased by an impacted user continues to belong to that user. Any Moments you own and any Dapper Balance continue to be your property.”
Dapper Goes Against The Crypto Industry
Dapper brings bearish woes to the NFT creators and crypto enthusiasts based in Russia as they are now unable to trade NFTs like UFC Strike, NBA Top Shot, and NFL All Day. Furthermore, the EU sanctions also impose a ban on cross-border crypto payments between the EU and Russia.
This move from Dapper Labs has impacted the crypto industry in Russia, and citizens have come up with several statements. On Twitter, a user called XBT200 argued over Dapper’s step and made criticisms as the firm went against censorship-resistant of the blockchain industry. He said, “If you’re freezing ‘accounts,’ you’re actively censoring in an industry that was founded around censorship resistance.”
However, an employee from Dapper Labs replied that the firm was bound to take that decision as Dapper Labs closely follows the EU’s decisions. He stated, “We are working quickly to understand the full implications of these sanctions on our community. And of course, we have sent communications out to all impacted Dapper wallet holders and our wider Dapper community too.”
Final Say
However, Dapper Labs took this decision as the European Union announced these bans to weaken Russia’s war against Ukraine. The EU published its announcement after Russia launched missiles at Ukraine, severely affecting Kyiv on 3 October. The European Commission said, “These (sanctions) are significant as they will potentially weaken Russia’s industrial capacity because it is highly dependent on importing these services.”
Dapper Labs is the leading NFT firm that launched innovative projects like Crypto Kitties, NBA Top Shot and many more. The ban on the crypto sector is expected to hugely impact Russian citizens and minimize Russia’s attacking nature on Ukraine.
