One of the largest blockchain-gaming operators, Animoca Brands, will sever ties with Russian users and investors because of the war against Ukraine. Bloomberg reports this.
Co-founder Yat Siu clarified that the decision also covers subsidiary companies such as Gamee and Lympo. He said that the share of Russian clients for the firm is small, and the ban will not have a material impact on its financial performance.
“The legal advice we received said that we need to impose some restrictions now. This country is under sanctions on par with North Korea. If we do not stop doing business in these places, at some point we may find ourselves cut off from the financial system,” Siu said.
In addition to blocking users, Animoca will ban the sale of shares to Russian investors.
Gamee announced that it would close its services for Russian clients on February 24.
⚠️ Today, GAMEE is closing services in #Russia, as a gesture of disagreement with Russia’s actions against #Ukraine
♥️🇺🇦 #RussiaUkraineConflict #StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/0z4mEx2iR3
— GMEE Token (@GAMEEToken) February 24, 2022
The Lympo platform said it would halt the issuance of NFT for Russian athletes and will end all negotiations underway for possible asset issuance.
Animoca invested in more than 150 companies, including game developers: Sky Mavis (Axie Infinity), Dapper Labs (CryptoKitties), NFT marketplace OpenSea. Siu stressed that these firms will determine their own approach to continuing business with Russia.
As reported, after the invasion of Ukraine began, one of the largest Ethereum mining pools, FlexPool, ceased serving Russian users.