Inca Digital accuses the Kucoin and Huobi Exchanges of enabling transactions with debit cards issued by sanctioned Russian banks. This action could violate U.S. and EU sanctions. The report also includes Binance and ByBit for offering methods for Russians to exchange their local currencies into crypto. The exchanges have denied the accusations and said they are complying with existing laws and regulations.
Inca Digital accuses Kucoin and Huobi of allowing crypto transactions from sanctioned Russian banks
In its report, Inca Digital attacks the Exchanges, Kucoin and Huobi, which allegedly allowed customers of sanctioned Russian banks to conduct credit card transactions.
According to the report of Inca Digital quoted by Bloomberg, these crypto exchange platforms have not taken any initiative to prevent these transactions, even those involving sanctioned banks such as Sberbank.
Adam Zarazinsk, general manager of Inca Digital, believes that these actions could violate sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union. The transactions in question would primarily involve the stablecoin Tether (USDT). The latter is often used by Russians to transfer money out of the country.
Tether (USDT) is frequently used by Russians to transfer money out of the country. It is also used by both exchanges to provide crypto banking services to sanctioned Russian banks.
Statement by Adam Zarazinsk
However, the officials of Kucoin rejected the data in the report. Johnny Lyu, the DG of Kucoin said that his company does not support transactions made with debit cards issued by Russian banks. For his part, Justin Sun, the famous entrepreneur and founder of Tron did not comment on the accusations against his company Huobi.
Registered in Seychelles, Kucoin said it complies with the laws and regulations of the countries in which it operates. He also stated that he would voluntarily cooperate in the event of an investigation into suspicious transactions.
As a registered exchange in Seychelles, we comply with the laws and regulations of Seychelles. We also follow the laws and regulations of other countries. If there are suspicious transactions that need to be investigated, we will gladly cooperate.
Statement by Kucoin’s CEO
Binance and ByBit also included in the report
The digital asset data analytics firm’s report also accused Binance ,the largest crypto exchange, as well as ByBit, the Singapore-based exchange.
According to the report, Binance offers several methods for Russians to convert their local currencies into crypto, including peer-to-peer (P2P) trading. Binance however, denied the charges and stated that he always applied the regulations KYC, as well as other measures to avoid violating the rules.
On the other hand, ByBit is accused of allowing Russians to trade rubles in crypto using their peer-to-peer marketplace and Fiat deposits. ByBit gives the opportunity to buy crypto after depositing Fiat on an online digital wallet or a local Russian bank card.
These new charges against Binance and ByBit are yet another setback for the cryptocurrency industry, although both companies have denied the allegations. The Binance Situation is already critical, with the platform already facing attacks from the SEC, which resulted in the suspension of the issuance of its stablecoin BUSD. The Inca Digital report adds to these problems. The involvement of these Exchanges in the conflict between Russia and the politicians is unexpected, and it could have unpredictable consequences. How much will this affect the crypto industry and users? Only time will tell.
Coming from a journalism university background, I came across Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies not long ago.
The potential of the Blockchain seduced me and I made it my research topic.
