Dapper Labs Restricts Services to Russia Amid EU Sanctions

The collective that’s home to NFT collections NBA TopShot and Crypto Kitties will no longer support wallets, accounts, or custody services that are traced to Russia.

AccessTimeIconOct 7, 2022 at 8:23 p.m. UTC
Updated Oct 10, 2022 at 3:47 p.m. UTC
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NFT powerhouse Dapper Labs has cut off payment services for non-fungible token owners with links to Russia, citing European Union sanctions in a Thursday blog post.

Dapper, the company behind popular NFT collections such as NBA Top Shot, said, “It is now prohibited to provide crypto-asset wallet, account or custody services of any value to accounts with connections to Russia.”

Impacted users can still look at their NFTs, but they cannot move funds, gift tokens, sell NFTs or buy new ones, Dapper said in the post, citing its payment processor.

On Thursday, the European Union confirmed its ban on transferring money to and from Russian crypto wallets, accounts and custody providers after proposals of the restrictions the week prior. This is a tightening of the EU’s limitations of Russian crypto wallet payments, which previously capped the amount at 10,000 euros in April. As of Thursday, Russian users cannot transfer any funds, including crypto funds, to or from the EU.

While crypto exchange OKX cut off its services in the country earlier this week, it's likely that more crypto products will follow as restrictions tighten.

Dapper did not respond to CoinDesk’s request for comment.

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Cam Thompson

Cam Thompson was a news reporter at CoinDesk.


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