Ukraine's Call For Help Disregarded By Tether

Ukraine First Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov requested in a Friday tweet that Tether — the operator of the Tether USDT/USD dollar-pegged stablecoin — and its CEO Paolo Ardoino put a stop on any transactions that involve Russia. Tether believes that no further action is needed on its part.

What Happened: After Fedorov's tweet asking Tether to stop all transactions with Russian nationals, Tether responded indirectly through a statement claiming the organization "conducts constant market monitoring to ensure that there are no irregular movements or measures that might be in contravention of international sanctions," according to a Friday Bloomberg report. Bloomberg points out most of the ruble-denominated crypto trading volume happens in Tether — not Bitcoin.

Tether is not on its own refusing to stop serving Russian nationals. While Fedorov called on cryptocurrency exchanges to freeze the accounts of Russian citizens in a late February tweet, most crypto trading avenues stated that while they will abide by sanctions imposed on Russian oligarchs they will not cut off all Russian citizens. Brian Armstrong, the CEO of major U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase Global Inc COIN explained earlier this month that such an action would deprive some ordinary Russians of a "lifeline now that their currency has collapsed."

Bloomberg stated that "Tether has long been used worldwide for capital flight, and may potentially be used by Russians to take money out of the country and eventually move that into other cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin" BTC/USD. According to late February reports, Bitcoin trading volume skyrocketed after sanctions sent the ruble into freefall — also resulting in a whopping 40% premium on Russian markets at the beginning of March.

Photo: Ukraine First Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov courtesy Office of the President of Ukraine via WikiCommons

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