Binance continues to serve Russian users despite 2023 exit

The cryptocurrency exchange Binance is still serving some Russian clients despite announcing a complete exit from the market last year.

“We continue to serve a limited number of existing Russian users to ensure their digital assets remain safe and secure,” a spokesperson for Binance told Cointelegraph on Sept. 25.

The Binance representative emphasized that the crypto exchange “adheres to global sanction regulation” and “fully complies with restrictions on individuals, entities and countries subject to international sanctions.”

Operating in Russia was “not compatible with Binance’s compliance strategy”

The announcement marks one year since Binance completed its full exit from the Russian market by selling its local operations to a new exchange called CommEx. In the statement released on Sept. 27, 2023, the companies did not reveal the financial details of the deal.

At the time, Binance’s chief compliance officer, Noah Perlman, claimed that there was no way for the firm to stay in Russia while ensuring regulatory compliance. He stated:

“As we look toward the future, we recognize that operating in Russia is not compatible with Binance’s compliance strategy.”

In a fresh statement to Cointelegraph, Binance reiterated that compliance “remains its highest priority,” and its goal is to establish “industry-leading compliance programs that cooperate effectively with law enforcement worldwide.”

CommEx shut down operations in April 2024

A few months after transitioning Binance’s Russian users to its platform, CommEx officially announced that it would shut down operations completely by April 2024.

The exchange, previously unknown before Binance’s exit from Russia, has never revealed any details about its founders or key executives. Although CommEx denied any direct connection with Binance, it acknowledged that its team includes some former veterans of Binance Russia.

While Binance claimed to terminate its Russian business last year, its Russian community has remained vibrant on social media since it announced its exit.

Binance’s Russian-language news channel on Telegram, with approximately 130,000 subscribers, has continued sharing updates, such as new token listings on Binance Launchpool, even after informing its Russian users that they can no longer trade on the platform.

“Access to Binance P2P for citizens of the Russian Federation who reside outside the Russian Federation and who have confirmed this via proof of address will remain unchanged,” the channel said in a post in January 2024.

Russia has been one of the major markets on Binance’s platform over the past year

Since Binance announced its exit from Russia, its local website visits have seen a significant decline.

According to data shared by the web analytics platform SimilarWeb, Binance’s website traffic in Russia dropped 43% during the period from August 2023 to July 2024.

Despite a notable decline, Russia remained one of the biggest traffic sources for Binance’s website during the period, accounting for 6% of its total visits.

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Russia’s traffic share is comparable with other major markets on Binance, including Turkey and Vietnam, which account for 8% and 6.6% of their total traffic, respectively.

Binance declined to tell Cointelegraph whether its significant traffic share in Russia or certain services to Russian users imply that it has continued operating in the market or recovered. The company’s spokesperson stated:

“It only means that we continue to serve a limited number of existing Russian users. And we will inform the community of future plans.”

The news comes after Binance CEO Richard Teng’s announcement that the exchange surpassed $100 trillion in all-time trade volume in September.

Binance’s former CEO and founder, Changpeng Zhao, is expected to be released from prison in the United States on Sept. 29.

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