BitMEX to limit services to Russians in the EU
Important takeaways
- Cryptocurrency BitMEX will no longer offer its services to Russian citizens or citizens of the EU.
- Russians in Russia are unlikely to be affected by the changes.
- The restriction is used by the company to comply with EU sanctions against Russia due to the war in Ukraine.
Share this article
BitMEX will stop offering its services to Russian citizens or citizens operating from the EU, the stock exchange announced some of the users yesterday. The move is an attempt by Oslo Børs to comply with the EU’s restrictive measures.
Termination of service due to EU sanctions
BitMEX strikes at its Russian users.
According to an email sent yesterday by the crypto exchange to some of the users, as of July 11, BitMEX will no longer offer its services to Russian citizens or citizens who are currently within the EU. These users will not be able to log in to their accounts or use the platform in any way.
The restrictions will not be enforced against Russian citizens or citizens who also reside in the EU or Switzerland, or against two citizens. The email encouraged such users to submit additional information in order to continue accessing BitMEX services.
EU-located Russians trading on behalf of otherwise legal entities were included in the restrictions, as were Russia-established entities whose dealers have access to BitMEX from the EU.
Russian users gaining access to the stock exchange from Russia were not mentioned in the statement and are unlikely to be affected by the changes.
BitMEX told Crypto Briefing that the company updated its guidelines for limited jurisdictions to comply with various restrictive EU measures. It claimed that the email was only sent to a “small group of potentially affected users.”
The European Union and the United States have responded to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with harsh economic sanctions, including the exclusion of the country from the SWIFT banking system. April also saw the delivery of “high-value crypto-activation services” to Russia forbidden to close “potential loopholes” in previous sanctions.
BitMEX is not alone in complying with EU regulations. Leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance is already serious limited their services to Russian users, who can now only withdraw their money from the stock exchange.
Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned ETH and several other cryptocurrencies.
