The world’s third-largest crypto exchange by volume, OKX, is blocked in Russia, as per Roskomsvoboda, a local NGO that monitors online censorship. Roskomsvoboda’s registry of blacklisted websites mentions Okx.com IP addresses were blocked by the prosecutor general office No. 73/3-105-2022.
The reasons for the ban are not yet disclosed and no previous public comments related to OKX have been cited by the agency. The ban can also be found in the official database of Roskomnadzor, Russia’s internet censorship agency.
OKX’s website is blocked under article 15.3 of the deferral law which covers public calls for extremist activities and information about organizations banned in Russia. Founder of Roskomsvoboda Artem Kozlyuk and even owners of blacklisted websites have no clue why they have been blacklisted and the reason can only be found by suing Roskomnadzor.
Kozlyuk also stated that the website hosting services which are obliged to block banned websites are only aware of the blacklisting. The only useful information shared is the number of a decision and the article of law.
The decision comes right after Russia tightened its regulation for crypto cross-border payments last month. Under this, Russian PM Mikhail Mishustin instructed the government to come to a consensus regarding crypto regulation including rules by December 19, 2022.
