Above Politics: Crypto Exchanges That Stay Neutra

The first cryptocurrency was born as a response to the exclusionary and corrupt financial system. The crypto movement today is based on the concept of freedom and self-dependence, as well as the idea that one has the right to be the sole owner of their money.

However, the ultimate crypto-powered freedom is yet to come. So far, we cannot use digital assets as means of payment everywhere and still depend on exchanges to provide us with fiat gateways.

The recent world events have highlighted how one’s personal finance is not, in fact, personal. In the modern world, when governments and politicians issue questionable laws or start wars with each other, citizens face economic consequences.

Amid the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and after Visa, Mastercard, and other major payment systems have left Russia, people once again turned to crypto. Quite a few platforms refused to work with the country under the sanctions, banning its citizen from using their services.

Despite the burning pressure of the global community, some cryptocurrency exchanges have not restricted ordinary Russian users, emphasizing the disregard for geopolitical factors of any nature. Below are just a few of them.

Kraken

Kraken, one of the oldest and most well-known crypto exchanges, announced it wouldn’t ban anyone from using it unless it is required by law. On top of that, Kraken’s founder Jesse Powell was very direct, stating his views on the matter.

In his Twitter post addressing the situation, he pointed out that their goal is to bridge individuals “out of the legacy financial system and bring them in to the world of crypto, where arbitrary lines on maps no longer matter, where they don’t have to worry about being caught in broad, indiscriminate wealth confiscation”.

HitBTC

HitBTC is another platform that always tends to work stably, regardless of any geopolitical or other disputes. Currently, it operates in its ordinary course. One of the oldest exchanges on the market, HitBTC has never discriminated against its user in any way.

As of now, the exchange users continue making deposits and withdrawals and use a variety of trading tools with some of the lowest fees on the market, just as they used to. In addition to the original web platform, the exchange’s app is also available for download in the App Store and Google Play.

Coinbase

American-based Coinbase is yet another exchange that remained neutral. The platform hasn’t publicly announced its position, but it also hasn’t blocked any of its regular users. Brian Armstrong, the company’s CEO, is known for being neutral.

A few years ago, he encouraged Coinbase’s employees not to discuss any political issues at the workplace and offered severance packages to those who disagreed with this policy. Brian Armstrong’s decision to stay away from politics aligned with the core cryptocurrency mission to help people stay financially independent of the state-controlled institutions.

Binance

Initially, Binance, represented by its CEO Changpeng Zhao, confirmed it wouldn’t be banning accounts of its Russian users. However, Changpeng Zhao also mentioned they would comply with any government sanctions. As time went by, the exchange announced that users with over 10,000 euros in their accounts wouldn’t be able to make new deposits or trade anymore.

One of the biggest exchanges out there, Binance is watched by millions of people and cannot stay deaf to public opinion.

Final Thoughts

At times of political instability, cryptocurrency, even more so, is meant to serve individuals. Centralized exchanges, the main bridges between fiat and crypto, have the freedom to decide which side they want to take. Choosing to focus on their users no matter what — unless they’ve done something illegal — is a strong position.