Hillary Clinton, a former US presidential candidate, slammed cryptocurrency exchanges that refused to quit serving Russian customers, while also criticizing Biden’s Treasury Department.
Why Clinton was disappointed
Hillary Clinton chastised the Biden administration’s Treasury Department for failing to secure the cryptocurrency industry, which allows Russians to seek financial asylum.
Her vehement critique, delivered on MSNBC Monday night, comes as the ruble plummets as a result of sanctions imposed in response to the invasion of Ukraine. However, two major cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and Ethereum, were up 14 percent and 11.4 percent, respectively.
Clinton argued that the crypto market should be kept separate from Russian President Vladimir Putin and the country’s oligarchs.
“I was disappointed to see some of the crypto exchanges, not all of them, but some of them are refusing to end transactions with Russia,” Clinton said. “Everybody, if there has to be legal or regulatory pressure, everybody should do as much as possible to isolate Russian economic activity right now.”
The crypto off-ramp, according to Clinton, a former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate who lost to former President Donald Trump, needs to be blocked.
“I think the Treasury Department, the Europeans should look hard at how they can prevent the crypto markets from giving an escape hatch to Russia, both governmental and private transactions in and out of Russia.
“I would hope somebody at the Treasury Department is trying to figure out how to rein in the leaky valves in the crypto market that might allow Russia to escape the full weight of the sanctions,” she added to host Rachel Maddow.
Ukraine is also taking advantage of the crypto market, with a post pinned to the top of the country’s Twitter feed asking for donations in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT (commonly known as Tether). According to several reports, a total of $20 million has been transferred.
“I was disappointed to see that some of the so-called crypto exchanges, not all of them, but some of them are refusing to end transactions with Russia for some philosophy of libertarianism or whatever.”
Ruble dropped 30% against the U.S. dollar
Other news organizations are reporting a bank run in Russia when the currency falls 30% versus the dollar.
Crypto, on the other hand, is the wild west of banking, where digital tokens are traded with dramatic fluctuations in the market, leaving some rich one minute and impoverished the next.
Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, stated Monday night that it will block the accounts of Russian individuals who have been sanctioned, but will not “unilaterally” freeze the accounts of all Russian users, according to CNBC.
The discussion about cryptocurrency in Ukraine is heating up on social media, with some asking why all cryptocurrency trades in and out of Russia aren’t being shut down right now.
Many believe that a simple Bitcoin password kept hidden in their thoughts will be a financial avenue to freedom for the 550,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine.
