Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, recently announced that it may fully withdraw its business from Russia days after it announced the removal of sanctioned Russian banks from its platform. Several other crypto exchanges currently remain active in the country.
On Aug. 28, the Wall Street Journal reported that Binance is reevaluating its operations in Russia and may fully remove its business from the country. A Binance spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal, "All options are on the table, including a full exit."
Days earlier, Binance announced that it had removed five sanctioned Russian banks, including Rosbank and Tinkoff Bank, from its peer-to-peer trading platform, the WSJ reported. A Binance spokesperson said, “We regularly update our systems to ensure compliance with local and global regulatory standards. When gaps are pointed out to us, we seek to address and remediate them as soon as possible.” The spokesperson noted that Binance strives to enforce sanctions on "blacklisted" individuals and groups by blocking them from its platform. "Binance aims to diligently comply with the global sanctions rules and enforces sanctions on people, organizations, entities, and countries that have been blacklisted by the international community, denying such actors access to the Binance platform,” the spokesperson said.
Binance has been policing its platform for Russian scammers and bad actors attempting to take advantage of fundraising campaigns for Ukraine, according to a report issued in May by Elliptic, a blockchain analytics company. The report, titled "Crypto in Conflict," said that when the Ukrainian government called on crypto exchanges to block accounts associated with the Kremlin and its allies, major exchanges including Binance and Coinbase stepped up. The two exchanges blocked or removed a combined thousands of accounts suspected of being "linked to Russian-origin illicit activity." Elliptic CEO Simone Maini said the report's findings demonstrate that the crypto industry has the ability to weed out criminals and others with malicious intentions to prevent their platforms from being used for illicit purposes.
Binance is also a member of the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance (NCFTA), an organization dedicated to combating cybercrimes. Binance was the first crypto company to join the nonprofit when it became a member in Jan. 2022, according to a blog post on the company's website. “Binance is an industry leader with a proven track record in aiding international cybersecurity investigations. With their leadership, collaborative approach, and commitment to the war on cybercrime, they will enhance our ability to achieve the current mission of the NCFTA and assist in enabling a safe environment not only for the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry but for everyone," said Matt LaVigna, president and CEO of the NCFTA.
Other crypto exchanges still allow Russian users to engage in peer-to-peer trading in rubles and digital assets, including the exchange OKX, the Wall Street Journal reported.
OKX, the sixth-largest crypto exchange in the world, has been linked to members of the Chinese Communist Party elite, Federal Newswire previously reported.