Binance could exit the Russian market following controversies surrounding its region in the region Wall Street Journal reported on August 28.
In a statement quoted by the newspaper, a Binance representative said that “all options are on the table, including a full exit.”
News of the potential Russian exit comes along with an update on the company’s Russian Telegram channel announcing several new rules for P2P exchange users. Binance stated that Russian users can now only trade rubles (RUB) fiat currency on the P2P platform and that this option is limited to KYC verified users residing in Russia.
In addition, the new rules state that users who live outside Russia will no longer be able to trade rubles on the P2P exchange. These users are also prohibited from trading with the Euro (EUR), the US Dollar (USD) and the Ukrainian hryvnia (UAH).
It also seems that rubles are no longer an option for non-Russian users. When CryptoSlate accessed Binance’s P2P platform without an account from a US location, rubles were not listed as an option. The platform nevertheless listed one Russian-based trader who relied on non-ruble currency with a foreign bank.
The Russia controversies over Binance are ongoing
Previously, Binance has sparked controversy for supporting certain sanctioned Russian banks on its P2P platform. The company removed five of these banks on August 25, but continued to support several other Russian payment options. At that time, about 16 banks and payment channels were listed as available.
Separate reports from the Wall Street Journal on August 22 suggested that Russian users conducted $428 million in Binance P2P transactions between October and March. That report also stated that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating Binance for potential sanctions violations, in line with previous reports from May.
The current controversies mainly concern Binance’s P2P exchange and not the main one. Binance imposed account limits on its main exchange in April 2022 to comply with sanctions against Russia; it has since lifted these restrictions without controversy.
Binance had no additional comments at the time of writing.
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