Dapper Labs, which specializes in NFT collectibles, blocked all Russian accounts after the latest sanctions from the European Union (EU) against the country and its nationals over its annexation of Ukrainian territories.
Dapper Labs noted that it is taking action in the wake of EU’s new sanctions against Russia which were announced on 6 October 2022 which include financial sanctions that impact companies providing services related to crypto assets, according to the press release.
The press release noted that “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.” It added that Dapper Labs’ “payment processing and stored value service partner is subject to EU regulations,” following which it had directed the company to “take action on all accounts held by those impacted by the October 6 restrictions, consistent with EU law.”
Following this, Dapper suspended accounts with connections to Russia from three major financial services including:
- The purchase, sale, or gifting of any Moment across all Dapper Sports
- Any withdrawals from your Dapper Account
- Dapper Balance Purchases
While Dapper Labs restricted any financial services for all Russian accounts on its platform, it specified that none of these accounts have been closed by the company. Therefore, if sanctions against Russia were to be relieved in the foreseeable future, Russian individuals and entities will be able to access their accounts again.
According to CoinSwitch’s reportage on EU’s updated sanctions, the ban will prohibit Russian account holders from accessing their crypto asset wallets, accounts, or custody services, irrespective of the amount of the wallet. This is part of the series of sanctions against Russia that were imposed in February 2022, when the US and European leaders raised concerns whether the growing digital assets industry could help Russia bypass their trade restrictions.
