To block or not to block?
Crypto is at an inflection point with the Ukraine/Russia crisis
ICYMI, Ukraine Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has recently appealed on Twitter for ‘major crypto exchanges to block address of Russian users’.
This appeal has brought up some very tough questions- is the openness of crypto more important? Or should the defence of a nation be so? More importantly, this appeal is not just targeted at Russian major banks/oligarchs, it is essentially meant to ‘sabotage ordinary users’. While there is divided view in Russia on this invasion, I don’t think it is fair that ordinary Russian citizens are being targeted.
Much like how many Germans felt humiliated by the treaty of Versailles at the end of World War 1, I think it is important to distinguish between key stakeholders like the Putin vs the average Russian citizen who is just trying to make a living. It is unwise to declare victory at the cost of the suffering of another country’s citizens.
The geopolitical dynamics of Ukarine/Russia are different from that of US/Japan, when US extended help to Japan after WW2.