More crypto-related businesses are joining the sanction train making its rounds in Russia, following that country’s invasion of Ukraine. And this time, it’s a major company from the hardware wallet sector. But Ukraine has been hit as well.
Satoshi Labs, the maker of the popular hardware wallet Trezor, has said that it had already stopped delivering its devices to these two countries.
Per trezor.io’s website,
“Due to the current situation in Ukraine and Russia shipping to these countries has been temporarily suspended beyond our control. While we hope that the situation improves quickly, we are currently unsure when we will be able to resume shipping to Russia and Ukraine.”
This happened “immediately” following the sanctions against that country, according to NBC News.
Satoshi Labs is based in the Czech Republic, formerly itself invaded by what was then the Soviet Union at the time the former was part of Czechoslovakia. Additionally, many company employees have “connections to the conflict that make it personal,” the report said, citing Satoshi Labs spokesperson Kristýna Mazánkov.
“We are not delivering into Russia. […] Bitcoin is very apolitical. I would like to imagine that bitcoin is a solution for different situations, and that it will stay that way,” Mazánkov was quoted as saying.
Cryptonews.com has reached out to Trezor for comment.
Meanwhile, on the same day Russia launched its attack on Ukraine, Trezor published a post stating: “It’s horrible to witness these acts of war and brutal military aggression. We StandWithUkraine.”
Four days later, on February 28, Satoshi Labs announced that they donated EUR 1m (USD 1.09m) in bitcoin (BTC) to two organizations.
As for Trezor’s major rival Ledger, there doesn’t seem to be any similar announcement at the time of writing. Per its website, due to local regulations, the Ledger wallet can’t be shipped to seven countries/regions, which include Belarus and the Crimean Peninsula, invaded and subsequently annexed by Russia in 2014. Russia is not on this list.
Cryptonews.com has contacted Ledger for comment as well.
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Learn more:
– ‘Big Four’ South Korean Crypto Exchanges Say They’ve Blocked Russian Users
– Animoca Bans Russian Users; Revolut CEO Condemns War, Matches Donations
– Crypto Can Better Deter Sanction Evasion Compared to TradFi – Coinbase
– Ukraine Crypto Donations Reach a Plateau; 40% of the Country’s Military Suppliers Accept Crypto
– Crypto Wallet Trends in 2022: More Privacy, Security, Features, and Choice
– Trezor Ditches a Controversial KYC Feature, Plans Features to ‘Cut Off Regulatory Overreach’
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