Because the European Union put sanctions on Russia and Russian citizens on Thursday, the company in Vancouver that made the Flow blockchain, Dapper Labs, has temporarily shut down Russian accounts.
Accounts that are connected to Russia can no longer get paid for providing wallet, account, or custody services for digital assets. On the other hand, Dapper has not shut down the accounts.
Why the suspension is important
The company Dapper Labs focuses on the Flow blockchain and collectible NFT tokens. It has made many NFT collectibles, such as the well-known Cryptokitties, Cheeze Wizards, and NBA Top Shot.
The company that helps Dapper Labs process payments and store value has to follow EU rules, and the EU has told the company to take action against Russian accounts.
Russian citizens who are affected by the ban can’t buy, trade, or give away any collectibles for UFC Strike, NBA Top Shot, or NFL All Day NFT. They also won’t be able to buy anything with the money they have in their Dapper accounts.
Users in Russia will still be able to sign in and see their digital assets, though. Dapper insisted that the affected users still legally own their assets, even though they can’t sell them.
Mr. Dapper Said: “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.”
Through its UFC Strike NFT collection, Dapper has made it possible to buy and sell NFTs of Russian fighters like Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Measures taken by the European Union
The latest round of sanctions against Russia and Russian citizens makes the sanctions put in place in April even tougher, especially when it comes to cryptocurrency.
To make the bans on crypto assets even stronger, it is now illegal to use any crypto service, no matter how much money is in a user’s wallet. Before, the most that a wallet could be worth was €10,000.
OKEx, one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, was taken off the list in Russia last week as part of the country’s efforts to limit cryptocurrency transactions.
Because of the updated EU sanctions, it is likely that more crypto and web3 companies will put in place similar restrictions.
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