Ukrainian authorities have blocked the country’s first crypto exchange, Kuna, for operations since 2014.
The oldest Crypto Exchange of Ukraine was closed a few days after the authorities quietly blocked the access to their platform without offering any clarification. The news came from Kuna founder and CEO, Michael Chobanian, who stated in the Telegram Post that he was not informed by the authorities and only came to know about the ban when users started reporting the issue.
Ban one follows Order Ukraine’s special communication and information protection was issued by the State Service. This order directs Ukrainian internet service providers to block access to its sub -domain along with the domain of Kuna.
The instructions cite the decision of a request from Kive’s Shevchenkivaski District Court and Ukraine’s Bureau of Economic Security, although it does not specify what the case against Kuna is. The order states that the ban will remain effective until martial law is removed in Ukraine.
Established in 2014, the Kuna became one of the famous platforms of Ukraine, which was to trade cryptocurrency such as bitcoin (BTC) and atherium (ath). Over the years, it played an important role in the convenience of adopting crypto in the country. For example, in early 2022, Kuna participated with Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Change and created a special dedicated crypto fund for Ukraine Accumulated Crypto donation over $ 100 million to support the Ukrainian army.
In A telegram post On 24 January, Chobanian said that most internet providers in Ukraine had already implemented blocks. “What we know for now: Most providers have already complied with SSSCIP requirement, which means that it is only a matter of time before following the suit of the remaining telecom operators.”
He also told that neither he nor Kuna was invited to the court for the verdict. “We were not invited to court, as you can imagine, and we learned about blocking users in Ukraine,” Chobanian wrote. Despite the ban, he assured users that the infrastructure of Kuna is hosted on a cloud server in Europe, meaning that only users are affected inside Ukraine.
While it is still not clear why Kuna was banned, Chobanian made Another post Announcing the closure of the exchange on 30 January and telling users that they have two months to withdraw their funds. He also made it clear that the ban came when he failed to pay a Ukrainian law enforcement agency to pay a kickback, which was desperate to find a “money at any cost” to fund the country’s economy.
“Unfortunately, I did not manage to meet everyone [law enforcement] Agencies. I am familiar with all law enforcement officers of Ukraine, except Ukraine’s Economic Security Bureau. Well, in our country, as a rule for law enforcement agencies, it is common to learn through the raid. But since I am not in Ukraine, and it is extremely difficult to raid a virtual, so they blocked the domain. ,
Michael Chobanian
Ukrainian according to News sheetUkraine’s Economic Security Bureau is investigating Kuna for alleged tax evasion. Officials allegedly claimed that a forensic audit confirmed “deliberate tax evasion”, causing a court verdict to block the stage. A law enforcement source told the local media that Ukraine’s potential loss due to tax evasion is about 50 million Hrvanonia (about $ 1.3 million).
Now, Chobanian says he wants to focus on symbiosis, a government model where people manage themselves using artificial intelligence and nature considering all the interconnected systems of the Earth. He is also changing his attention on AI and “public social activity”. Due to this change in priorities, he announced that by 30 January, Kuna has stopped all its commercial operations. Crypto.news reached the Kuna several times, but no response was received.
Nevertheless, despite the ban, the founders of Kuna remain optimistic, urging the community to focus on global trends and to pointing the Trump administration to a growing interest in bitcoin.
“Crypto’s enthusiasts in Ukraine do not need to tell how to use Crypto independently, so we are looking at Crypto Revolution in America, bitcoin is being added to foreign currency reserves, and the price of Trump Memcoin price . “
Michael Chobanian
Back in August 2024, Chobanian left for Ukraine’s Central Bank, stating that the National Bank of Ukraine originally “killed” the local crypto market, pushed him to focus his attention in Europe. He called Ukraine’s crypto view an disaster and convicted it on the strict sanctions of the bank on the Hrivia-based crypto transactions.
