Because of U.S. sanctions, the largest NFT marketplace, OpenSea, has announced that it would no longer allow digital artists or collectors from Cuba to use its platform. According to reports, thirty NFT artists and collectors have been kicked from the site up to this point.
Artists Gabriel Guerra Bianchini and Fábrica de Arte Cubano, both headquartered in Havana, are among those whose names have been removed off the list. OpenSea has complied with United States sanctions for quite some time now, as shown by the fact that Venezuela, Iran, and Syria are already on the list of its restricted users.
The addition of Cuba to the list of countries subject to restrictions after the recent ban on Cuban musicians In addition, the terms and conditions of OpenSea state that it does not allow sanctioned persons or those who are affiliated with sanctioned businesses to use its platform.
The story became public knowledge when the initiative NFTcuba, which focuses on Cuban artists.
The information that OpenSea has deactivated their profile on the marketplace was tweeted by Art. It went on to add that individuals who are subjected to censorship include not just those with other nations but even Cuban residents who have other nationalities.
long time since we posted, unfortunate that this post needs to be this.@opensea has disabled our profile.
Not only do Cubans on the island, but those who have other nationalities have to endure censorship in web3 company.
Buying art from Cubans is not banned in the us embargo pic.twitter.com/7cccbmjNWR
— NFTcuba.ART 🇨🇺 (@nftcubaart) December 12, 2022
NFTcuba.
ART has voiced its opposition, stating that Cuban artists working outside of the country should not be subject to the restrictions since they are applied unjustly. On the other hand, according to a spokesperson for OpenSea, the marketplace will conduct a comprehensive review to see what further actions need to be made in order to both serve the community and comply with the relevant laws.
Gabriel Bianchini, creator of Cryptocubans, said, with reference to the prohibition, that the future of Web3 does not seem to be decentralized. As a result of recent happenings, the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, which is situated in the United States, was ordered to pay $362,000 as a result of its breach of the deal against Iran.
As a result of the different penalties, some cryptocurrency platforms have discontinued their operation. The cryptocurrency community is speaking out against these actions, arguing that there is a pressing need for truly decentralized platforms that are indifferent to users’ countries of origin.
Compiled by Coinbold
