Uphold has announced that users across Venezuela will no longer be able to access its platform from July 31. According to the trading platform, the United States of America has levied biting sanctions against the company over the years. However, it looks like the sanctions are now getting too much to bear, prompting moving out of the country. The company has urged users to withdraw their funds before the set time limit expires.
Uphold places a July 31 deadline on withdrawals
Going by an announcement on the company’s official page, it mentioned that it is making the move reluctantly, blaming it on the biting sanctions. Uphold also went ahead to implore users to take their funds during the grace period provided by the company. Asides from halting services to clients living inside Venezuela on the previously set date, it also mentioned that all accounts would no longer be accessible by September 30. Uphold also noted that it had a right to comply with the sanctions meted out by the company against Venezuela. Uphold also noted that it would not be able to allow certain users to withdraw their funds from the platform going by the rules of the US government.
Venezuela uses crypto to evade sanction
Most of these sanctions imposed on the country started as far back as August 2019, when US citizens were not allowed to carry out transactions with Venezuelan outfits. Asides from that, there was a national law that all assets belonging to the government of Venezuela be frozen across the United States of America. Last month, the current US president, Joe Biden, announced that he would ease the sanctions on the country.
True to his word, he removed most of the sanctions while focusing more on areas regarding US-based outfits dealing in oils. With these sanctions in place, there has been news that the country’s government has been able to make use of crypto to remove some of the harsh effects of the sanctions of the US government. During the period, the country asked residents to pay major bills using Bitcoin and other digital assets. The country also leapfrogged other countries worldwide to establish its dominance in peer-to-peer crypto exchanges throughout 2021.
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