Emmanuel OchayiCryptocurrency giant, Binance, on Wednesday, announced decision to divest its Russian operations, citing its commitment to compliance and distancing itself from potential sanctions violations.
This comes in the wake of months-long investigations by US authorities into alleged sanctions breaches involving Russian users of the platform.
Originally founded in China by Canadian national Changpeng Zhao in 2017, Binance relocated its operations to various international locations, including Singapore, Bahrain, Dubai, Paris, and the Cayman Islands, in response to a cryptocurrency crackdown by Beijing.
According to Wionews, Chief Compliance Officer Noah Perlman stated, “As we look toward the future, we recognize that operating in Russia is not compatible with Binance’s compliance strategy.”
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Back in May, Bloomberg had reported that the US Department of Justice was examining claims that Russians had utilized Binance to evade US sanctions imposed due to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Binance had consistently denied any wrongdoing regarding sanctions but has now decided on a “full exit” from the Russian market, a process that is expected to span a year.
In a curious twist, Binance revealed that it would be selling its Russian assets to CommEX, a newly established company that only made its debut a day prior to the announcement.
Reacting to this development on X (formerly Twitter), CommEX welcomed its new Russian users with enthusiasm. However, queries about CommEX’s ownership and base of operations remained unanswered on Telegram channels.
CommEX, which maintains a presence in both Russian and English on the Telegram messaging app, did not respond immediately to an AFP request for comment, further shrouding its operations in secrecy.
Binance has been grappling with a series of regulatory challenges worldwide, compounded by the downturn in cryptocurrency markets.
In a noteworthy admission last November, the company acknowledged its exchange had dealings with “bad actors” in Iran, following reports by Reuters alleging that it had facilitated the movement of billions of dollars in defiance of US sanctions.
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