Dapper Labs, the company behind blockchain-based game CryptoKitties and layer-1 digital ledger the Flow (FLOW) network, is announcing restrictions on accounts linked to Russia.
Dapper Labs says that following the imposition of new sanctions against Russia and Russian nationals by the European Union (EU) last week, it will suspend the affected accounts as its “payment processing and store value service partner” is subject to the sanctions.
According to the firm, the new EU sanctions prohibit crypto industry players from offering “crypto-asset wallet, account or custody services of any value to accounts with connections to Russia, irrespective of the amount of the wallet.”
Dapper Labs says that Russia-linked accounts are now suspended from making purchases or sales or gifting products bought from the blockchain firm’s sports-related non-fungible token (NFT) content. Dapper Labs has also suspended Russia-linked accounts from making withdrawals from the platform or making purchases using their balance on the platform.
The new round of sanctions outrightly banning crypto payments of any amount came after Russia annexed four Ukrainian territories following what EU calls a “sham” referendum. Previous sanctions allowed crypto payments of up to €10,000.
The new EU sanctions coincided with a report saying that Russia’s top financial authorities had allegedly reached an agreement legalizing the use of crypto assets in cross-border transactions.
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