The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) expanded its sanctions list to include Russian platforms for issuing digital financial assets — Atomyze, Lighthouse, and Masterchain.
Also added to the SDN list were:
- P2P marketplace Bitpapa;
- Crypto Explorer DMCC;
- blockchain technology developer Web3Tech;
- “Electronic Payment Processing Center” — operator of the exchange service Netexchange;
- B-Crypto — operator of cross-border settlements for foreign economic activities;
- “Distributed Ledger Systems” — operator of the Masterchain platform, among others.
The sanctions followed a month after Russia approved the use of digital financial assets and utility digital rights in international transactions.
In a comment to ForkLog, Atomyze’s press service emphasized that digital financial assets are exclusively a Russian financial instrument:
“LLC ‘Atomyze’ operates in Russia in full compliance with local legislation. The imposed restrictions do not affect the platform’s operations.”
The Bitpapa team warned of potential minor technical issues affecting some functions in the near future, promising to address them promptly.
“Our legal team is studying the new restrictions on operations. However, this regulatory decision will not impact our clients’ activities. We are prepared for such developments. Users’ funds, platform infrastructure, and data are secure,” stated the service representatives.
Atomyze was granted the status of an information system operator for managing digital financial assets in February 2022. Lighthouse was added to the relevant registry a year later.
At the time of writing, licenses for issuing digital financial assets in Russia are also held by: Sberbank, Alfa-Bank, Masterchain, Eurofinance Mosnarbank, Tokeon, SPB Exchange, Blockchain Hub, and the National Settlement Depository.
In November, OFAC imposed sanctions on Russian citizen Ekaterina Zhdanova. According to authorities, she assisted members of the Russian elite in circumventing international restrictions using cryptocurrencies.