Vitalik Buterin criticized sanctions against ordinary Russians
Ethereum co-founder recalled that “my family and I were the same Russians”
29.04.2022 - 09:10
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Ethereum co-founder recalled that “my family and I were the same Russians.”
What’s new? Ethereum blockchain co-founder Vitalik Buterin has spoken out against the widespread imposition of sanctions on ordinary Russians. In response to the news that the Netherlands had suspended issuing visas to Russian residents, Buterin said that “my family and I were the same Russians who received a visa from a Western country” and asked to be careful with such decisions. According to him, the move allowed his father to start a good business and he himself to grow up “without the influence of the ideology of zombies.”
What else did Buterin add? In response to a comment about Russians actively expressing support for their authorities while in Europe, the Ethereum co-founder advised against reacting to such people.
He believes that the first thing to do is to help “to show their children an alternative point of view.” Buterin previously stated that Ethereum is beyond politics, but he personally is not.
What preceded it? On April 21, Binance imposed restrictions on Russian users. This was due to the crypto exchange’s compliance with the fifth package of EU sanctions against Russia. The restrictions affected accounts with an account amount exceeding €10 000. On April 22, Changpeng Zhao, founder and CEO of the Binance exchange, called the EU’s new restrictions against Russians “a historic aggressive action” and called for peace.
Buterin was featured on the cover of the March issue of TIME magazine. The issue was published as an NFT. The Ethereum developer also called NFTs a new kind of gambling. According to him, purchasing tokens for hundreds of thousands of dollars is not advisable.
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