One of the world’s biggest blockchain gaming companies Animoca Brands halts its services to Russian users following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The move is exceptional in the crypto world, as most large blockchain companies continue to serve clients in Russia.
Animoca Brands was founded in 2014 and is based in Hong Kong. In the first nine months of 2021, the company raised $529.6 million and was said to be holding over $600 million in digital assets. Its subsidiaries include The Sandbox, Blowfish Studios, Quidd, GAMEE, nWay, Pixowl, and Lympo. Plus, the company has invested in numerous NFT projects, such as Axie Infinity, OpenSea, Dapper Labs, Bitski, Harmony, Alien Worlds, and Star Atlas (NYSE:ATCO).
Chairman of Animoca Brands, Yat Siu, said that the decision would affect some of the company’s subsidiaries, such as Gamee and Lympo. However, it shouldn’t impact the company at large.
Gamee shared on Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) that it shuts services in Russia. Lympo also vowed to stop producing Russian athlete NFTs and closed negotiations with the country’s athletes, according to Bloomberg.
“The legal advice we’ve been receiving is we now have to impose some restrictions. It’s a sanctioned country on par with North Korea. The moment we end up doing business in those areas, we might ourselves become financially excluded from the financial system,” Siu said.
Sanctions on Russia and keeping the nation isolated might cripple the country’s economy and aid Ukraine in the war.
On the Flipside
- Some crypto users disagree with such positions, as cryptocurrency businesses should be decentralized and neutral in politics, plus such moves negatively affect ordinary users.
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