Hong Kong-based gaming and venture capital company Animoca Brands has announced it will no longer allow Russian citizens access to its services. One of the company’s co-founders, Yat Siu, told Bloomberg that the decision to leave the Russian market was made after receiving legal advice.
Key takeaways:
- Animoca Brands’ most notable game is certainly the booming metaverse The Sandbox. However, the company has close ties to major brands in gaming and sports and has previously collaborated with the likes of Atari, MotoGP, and Formula One.
- Siu said that continuing to offer service to Russian consumers might be counterproductive in the long term, as the company might face financial exclusion as a result of dealing with a heavily sanctioned country.
- Animoca’s withdrawal from the market comes days after Russia attacked Ukraine. The Russian economy has faced severe economic repercussions as a result of its aggression. Several Russian financial institutions have been placed on a sanctions list, while Visa and Mastercard blocked a number of Russian banks.
- According to Siu, the decision to cut ties to Russian customers was not a hard one to make as Russians reportedly account for only a small share of Animoca’s overall user base.
- In addition to its gaming prowess, Animoca Brands maintains significant investments in a number of prominent blockchain projects, including Axie Infinity, OpenSea, CryptoKitties, and MetaMask.
- So far, virtually all crypto companies have been reluctant to withdraw from the Russian market. For instance, Binance recently stated it will not “unilaterally” close Russian accounts but might do it on an account-specific basis, while FTX and Coinbase reportedly hold the same stance.
