The addresses, according to the platform, were linked to Russian persons or businesses suspected of engaging in illegal activity.
The addresses were prohibited due to concerns that cryptocurrency could be used to circumvent restrictions.
Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief legal officer, made the statement on the business blog.
He described how the cryptocurrency exchange was complying with new laws established as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
It means that sanctioned individuals will have no access, and it features “sophisticated blockchain analytics” to detect accounts that are indirectly related to blacklisted users.
“Coinbase blocks over 25,000 addresses related to Russian individuals or entities we believe to be engaging in illicit activity, many of which we have identified through our own proactive investigations,” Mr Grewal wrote.
“We shared them with the government in order to strengthen sanctions enforcement.”
“Sanctions play a vital role in promoting national security and deterring unlawful aggression and Coinbase fully supports these efforts by government authorities.”
The US government had requested cryptocurrency firms to assist in preventing Russian oligarchs from using virtual currencies to escape sanctions.
However, many are resisting calls from Ukraine’s government as well as US and European lawmakers to go even farther and ban all Russian users, amid concerns that ordinary Russians may be adopting cryptocurrency as a lifeline after the ruble’s value plummeted to a historic low.
Closing Coinbase’s business in Russia would only harm ordinary citizens, according to CEO Brian Armstrong.
“We are not pre-emptively banning all Russians from using Coinbase,” he said in a tweet.
“We believe everyone deserves access to basic financial services unless the law says otherwise.”
Russia’s financial system is becoming increasingly separated from the bigger non-crypto financial institutions.
Visa, Mastercard, and American Express have all ceased operations in Russia.
All three stated that cards issued outside of Russia will no longer be accepted at stores or cash machines in Russia.
However, Russia minimized the impact of the suspension, claiming that cards issued by Russian banks would still work within Russia since transactions could be processed by a domestic operator.
In addition, certain Russian banks, including Sberbank and Alfa-Bank, have stated that they may issue co-branded cards linked to Russia’s Mir and China’s UnionPay international payment systems.
