Today in Crypto: Binance Denies Sharing Client Info With Russia; Ukraine Prohibits Purchases of Crypto With Its Currency

The National Bank of Ukraine clarified restrictions on cross-border transactions on Thursday (April 21), hoping to stop crypto purchases in local currencies.

According to its guidance, individuals will be able to buy assets directly converted for cash through quasi-cash transactions, using their own foreign currency. Quasi-cash transactions include purchases of virtual assets and other such things.

In other news, crypto exchange Binance has reportedly recovered some stolen funds linked to March’s Axie Infinity hack, CoinDesk reported Friday (April 22).

The crypto exchange got back around $5.8 million in stolen funds, and Binance founder Changpeng Zhao said the funds were distributed across 86 accounts.

Meanwhile, sanctions on Russia over its war in Ukraine could hurt the crypto sector, which is worth several billions of dollars, according to a Friday CNBC report.

U.S. officials have recently targeted Russian bitcoin mining firm BitRiver as it levels more sanctions on Russia over the war. The sanctions will reportedly cripple BitRiver and various subsidiaries and block them from accessing U.S. crypto exchanges or mining equipment.

In related news, CoinDesk reported Friday that Binance has refuted claims that it helped Russian authorities track donations made to the opposition.

The allegations came from a Reuters investigation, which claims that Binance was building ties with Russian government agencies and provided client data to Russia’s anti-money laundering agency. On its official blog, Binance said that “suggestions that Binance shared any user data … with Russian FSB controlled agencies and Russian regulators are categorically false.”

Furthermore, BitNile Holdings has announced plans to fund up to $100 million in commercial loans for small, publicly traded companies which are secured by bitcoin.

According to a press release, that will happen through BitNile’s subsidiary, Digital Power Lending. BitNile reportedly plans to expand its mining production capacity “significantly” this year.

In other news, Alphaplate, a tech firm working on crypto trading, has been acquired by Britannia Financial Group, the firms announced Thursday.

This acquisition will reportedly let Britannia’s clients access execution, custody and over-the-counter services for the digital assets market.

In other news, U.S. government officials are also sanctioning North Korean crypto wallets, CoinDesk reported Friday.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control added three Ethereum addresses to its Sanctions list, adding to an address listed last week that was tied to a theft of $600 million stolen in the Axie Infinity hack.

Finally, Crypto.com has reportedly made a four-year grant to the Digital Currency Initiative (DCI) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab, Block Crypto reported Sunday (April 24).

The grant didn’t come with a specified amount and will reportedly go towards research into bitcoin security and open-source development of protocols underlying the network.