Ukraine receives multiple Russian wallet addresses for the crypto crackdown

After making an effort to survey, Ukraine received a slew of crypto wallet addresses linked to Russian politicians, the private lawyer charged with the task, Artem Afian, said. 

Afian believes that the war criminals would use crypto to avoid the imposed sanctions, and his team wants to get them there.

On Saturday, Mykhailo Fedorov, the deputy prime minister and minister of digital transformation in Ukraine, posted an urgent inquiry on crypto wallets held by Russian and Belarusian lawmakers on Twitter.

The ‘Blacklist’ campaign is in full swing

Afian is fighting the crypto side of the war for Ukraine while also worried about his and his parents’ safety. As of now, his team has only recognized a few notable names so far, but he believes that after double-checking all the wallets, they will find many more.

Afian is working with the ministry of digital transformation, which he is familiar with because he was a member of the working group that produced Ukraine’s law on virtual assets.

Helping “all crypto exchanges in the world tag these politicians, their families, partners, children” is an important component of constructing the “blacklist.” He wants to convince the exchanges to stop working with governments to squeeze them in the crypto industry.

Ukraine’s request and colorful reponses

Ukraine has also requested numerous crypto exchanges to restrict Russian user accounts to ensure that the sanctions imposed on Russia are carried out effectively.

In addition, the deputy prime minister announced a reward for information on the wallets. According to Afian, the actual amount will be determined by a variety of external factors. 

“It depends since a majority of our funds could go towards the military resistance, but it could be 5 or 10 bitcoins or more,” he added.

This is a defining moment for DeFi, or the process of performing financial transactions on a blockchain without the use of intermediaries, according to Afian.