The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, is reevaluating its activities in Russia, including the possibility of a complete withdrawal from Russia, which was once an important market and is becoming increasingly problematic.
“All options are on the table, including full exit,” a spokesperson said, according to the WSJ report.
Last week, the WSJ claimed that Binance was helping Russians move money abroad, even though the company said it stopped operating in the country last year, enforcing Western sanctions requirements and restricting trade on its platform in Russia. Binance then took action to limit peer-to-peer trading involving sanctioned Russian banks.
Binance moved to further limit its peer-to-peer trading service in Russia on Monday, telling users in Russia in a message on Telegram that they cannot exchange digital tokens for any currency other than the ruble.
Some other crypto platforms are also active in Russia. For example, OKX offers peer-to-peer ruble trading for digital tokens on its website. “OKX serves global users, including Russian users, in accordance with applicable sanctions requirements,” said a spokesperson for the exchange.
*Not investment advice.
