World’s largest crypto exchange could exit Russia – WSJ

Binance has already banned users based in the country from conducting transactions in foreign currencies

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, is considering a complete withdrawal from the Russian market, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing the company.    

The potential exit could come in response to regulatory challenges that Binance is facing within the country.   

“All options are on the table, including a full exit,” a company spokesperson told the US newspaper, without providing further details.   

The news comes after Binance recently announced that Russian users can now trade on the P2P (peer-to-peer) platform in fiat currency in rubles only. The option is restricted to local users who have passed Binance’s ‘know your customer’ (KYC) verification.   

New rules also ban Russian users who reside outside the country from trading in the ruble, euro, US dollar, and Ukrainian hryvnia on the P2P exchange. In addition, rubles are no longer an option for non-Russian users. 

Binance stopped supporting deposits from Visa and Mastercard cards issued in Russia in March 2022 due to Ukraine-related sanctions imposed on Moscow by Western states. 

READ MORE: Top crypto exchange bans foreign currency transfers for Russians – media

In March of this year, the crypto exchange introduced additional restrictions on Russian users, barring them from buying and selling US dollars and euros using P2P. It then banned EU-based users from making transfers in Russian rubles via the platform, and placed limitations on Russian accounts that had crypto assets worth over €10,000 ($11,000).   

However, it was reported in April that the restrictions had been lifted, and that Russian users were again able to deposit rubles, euros, British pounds, and other currencies onto the platform from bank cards issued in Russia.

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