Crypto exchange Binance says that MasterCard and Visa cards issued in Russia cannot be used on its platform after the payments giants decided to suspend their operations in the sanction-hit country.
In a statement, the exchange says that Russian-issued MasterCard and Visa cards will not work on Binance starting Wednesday, March 9th.
“Effective Wednesday, 2022-03-09 21:00 UTC (Thursday, 2022-03-10 00:00 UTC+3) – due to recent decisions by Visa and Mastercard – all transactions initiated with Mastercard and Visa cards issued in Russia will be unavailable on Binance.
In addition, all transactions initiated with Mastercard and Visa cards by financial institutions outside of Russia will also be unavailable within the Russian Federation on Binance.”
MasterCard and Visa announced on Saturday that they will stop doing business in Russia. The card companies’ announcements come as financial institutions and companies worldwide boycott Russia for attacking Ukraine.
Binance says that it is not imposing the international sanction because it does not have the power to do so. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao says that a ban from a few crypto exchanges will not have an impact.
“Limiting a few large international exchanges does practically nothing… People can use crypto simply by downloading a wallet (open-source software). Then they can begin to accept crypto for their goods and services. And they can pay others in crypto for the goods and services they need. They don’t need an exchange at all.”
Originally Published Here
