All cameras trained on Binance as Ukraine asked crypto exchanges to issue a blanket ban on Russian users. As more politicians, crypto gamblers, and war survivors have voiced their own views on the issue, pressure is mounting on exchanges to please everyone — while staying true to the values ​​of cryptocurrency.

BNB says BRB

How has the tension of it all affected BNB? Well, at press time, BNB was trading at $407.49, having fallen 1.57% in the past 24 hours while rising 22.19% in the past seven days. However, a closer look at the metrics is well worth the effort.

The weighted sentiment for BNB was negative on March 3, despite the rise in the price of BNB. Negativity seems to have been the mood of the season for most of January and February this year, with only brief forays into positive territory. This suggests investors aren’t too confident they’ve seen the latest of the price declines.

During this time, we can note a steady decline in the number of active addresses from the highs of October 2021. Out of more than 5,000 active addresses per day before the crash in December, the number of active addresses close to the hour to press was 686. It was. despite the recent rally. Overall, it appears that investor interest is significantly muted.

Source: Santiment

Binance in a standoff

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao found himself under the regulatory microscope as the debate over blanket bans ratcheted up a notch. In one Bloomberg interview, Zhao assured reporters that Binance was complying with orders to cut off access to sanctioned individuals. However, he pointed out that putting in place sweeping restrictions would be “unethical” for Binance.

Zhao explained,

“It is not up to us to decide whether to freeze user accounts. Facebook did not ban Russian users. Google did not block Russia. The United States did not do that. Also, from an ethical point of view, many Russians do not support war, so we should separate politicians from normal people.

I am [not] mandate and sanction

Meanwhile, Kraken co-founder Jesse Powell responded to a request from Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for crypto exchanges to “sabotage ordinary users” by blocking all Russian users. Powell insisted that Kraken could not take such action unless he was legally required to do so.

1/6 I understand the merits of this request but, despite my deep respect for the Ukrainian people, @krakenfx cannot freeze the accounts of our Russian customers without a legal obligation to do so.

The Russians should be aware that such a demand could be imminent. #NYKNYC https://t.co/bMRrJzgF8N

— Jesse Powell (@jespow) February 28, 2022

However, in an article on the compliance measures of major exchanges, Powell commented,

“…I think we all know that some newer exchanges have made lack of AML/KYC/BSA compliance their primary valuation/growth strategy.”