The move comes after Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, called on cryptocurrency exchanges to restrict Russian customers’ addresses.
- For fear of being identified with a sanctioned country, the gaming and metaverse behemoth stated it wished to avoid being “financially excluded.”
- It’s unclear whether the firm will prohibit sales of SAND, a utility token used in Animoca’s subsidiary The Sandbox’s metaverse.
On Tuesday, Animoca Brands, a blockchain and metaverse gaming company, chose to terminate links with its Russian users, citing sanctions imposed by Western nations in response to the invasion of Ukraine as grounds.
According to a story, Animoica will prohibit users and restrict access to its shares if they are from the former Soviet Union.
Ukraine’s vice prime minister and minister of digital transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, encouraged cryptocurrency exchanges to block addresses belonging to Russian users in a tweet Sunday morning.
Crypto companies have been debating whether or not to comply with the minister’s request, however most have apparently decided against it. Animoca, on the other hand, has become one of the few companies in the business to do so.
It’s unclear whether the firm will try to stop people from buying SAND, a utility token used in Animoca’s subsidiary The Sandbox’s metaverse. Animoca has yet to issue an official statement.
Following weeks of US intelligence warnings, Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized Russian forces to move into Ukrainian territory on February 24. Most of the Western world quickly criticized the invasion, and key Russian banks, oligarchs, and businesses were sanctioned as a result.
The use of the SWIFT interbank settlement system by Russian financial institutions has been sanctioned, limiting their capacity to operate efficiently inside the global financial system.
Animoca co-founder Yat Siu stated in an interview that the company’s move would likely effect subsidiaries such as Gamee and blockchain fitness company Lympo, albeit the impact would be minimal given the limited population of Russian customers.
“We’ve received legal advice that we now need to implement some restrictions,” Siu added. “It’s a sanctioned country on par with North Korea in terms of sanctions.” We risk becoming financially excluded from the banking system if we continue to do business in those locations.”
Animoca, based in Hong Kong, was created in 2011 with the goal of producing and publishing mobile games and apps. According to data provider Pitchbook, the company, which has subsequently expanded into blockchain and artificial intelligence, has collected a total of $627.7 million in funding.
In February, the business raised $358.89 million from Liberty City Ventures, Delta Blockchain Fund, and 10T Holdings, among others, bringing its post-valuation to $10 billion.
That investment virtually doubled the company’s previous valuation of $5.5 billion, which had doubled from a private equity deal of $267.8 million in October, when Animoca was valued at $2.2 billion.
Disclaimer: These are the writer’s opinions and should not be considered investment advice. Readers should do their own research.
