Cryptocurrency company Binance leaves Russia: “It is a total exit”

The cryptocurrency company Binance said on Wednesday it was selling its business in Russia, months after reports suggested U.S. authorities were investigating possible sanctions violations.

Bloomberg reported in May that the United States Department of Justice was investigating allegations that the Russians had used Binance to circumvent US sanctions imposed by the invasion of ukraine by Moscow.

The company, which has faced serious regulatory hurdles around the world, has previously denied violating sanctions, but in a statement on Wednesday said it was making a “full exit” from the Russian market.

“As we look ahead, we recognize that operating in Russia is not compatible with Binance’s compliance strategy”Chief Compliance Officer Noah Perlman said in a statement.

The company said the process would take a year to complete and would involve selling its assets to CommEX, a company that launched on Tuesday.

Binance runs crypto exchanges and provides other services around the world, but its business has been severely affected since the crypto markets collapsed and regulators began investigating the legality of its business.

In November last year, the company admitted that its exchange had “interacted” with “bad actors” in Iran after reports of Reuters They claimed he had helped move billions of dollars in defiance of US sanctions.

Binance was founded in 2017 in China by Canadian citizen Changpeng Zhaobut after a crackdown it moved its operations to places like Singapore, Bahrain, Dubai, Paris and the Cayman Islands.

“Binance has announced a comprehensive sale of its Russian operations to CommEX. “With the goal of achieving a smooth transition for current users, the transition is expected to take approximately one year, while ensuring the complete security of users’ assets,” the company said in a statement.

The company, which indicated that it will not reveal the financial terms of the operation, stressed that this sale “marks the total withdrawal of Russia.”

He also made it clear that the sale does not include a buyback option.

The director of Binance Noah Perlmannoted in the statement that working in Russia – which launched its war in Ukraine 581 days ago – no longer aligned with the compliance strategy of the cryptocurrency platform founded by Chanpeng Zhao.

According to the company, registered in Delaware, USA, the user migration process will be gradual and orderly.

The two cryptocurrency companies will work together to guide users in transferring their assets to CommEX.

(With information from AFP and EFE)