Binance Delists Sanctioned Russian Banks from P2P Service

Binance pulls the plug on P2P trading via sanctioned banks, causing uproar in the sanctioned aggressor state.

Changpeng Zhao having mixed feelings about unplugging Russia.
Created by Gabor Kovacs from DailyCoin
  • Binance banned Russian customers from trading USD or EUR in March 2023.
  • The crypto behemoth confirmed new restrictions on Russian users on Telegram.
  • The Justice Department has launched a probe on Binance for money laundering.

Binance, the globally leading cryptocurrency exchange, halted peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions via five sanctioned Russian banks. This comes just a week after the Wall Street Journal published an article blaming Binance for offering Russians a gateway to bypass the numerous sanctions implied by the United States and the European Union.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Binance has processed transfers totaling over $428 million via the P2P service, while the transactions involved Sberbank and Tinkoff Bank, two blacklisted banks headquartered in Russia. Meanwhile, Binance faces mounting regulatory issues in the United States, as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) laid out 13 criminal charges against the company and its founder, Changpeng โ€˜CZโ€™ Zhao.

Peers Follow as Binance Takes Action

The unprecedented restriction by Binance means that rubles will be available for trading only for Russian citizens living in the country. Last weekโ€™s Wall Street Journal article tackled the issue of money laundering via an intermediary, which eventually enables citizens to convert the sanctioned funds into a legit balance on the crypto platform.

Sponsored

Addressing the latest restriction on Russian users, a Binance spokesperson pointed out: โ€œWhen gaps are pointed out to us, we seek to address and remediate them as soon as possible.โ€ Soon after the move, Binanceโ€™s competitors, like Bybit and OKX, took similar action to remove the five blacklisted Russian banks from their ecosystems.

The cautious measures come when most major exchanges fear the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which will likely crack down on exchanges operating in the sanctioned aggressor state. According to lawyer Adam Cochran, the OFACโ€™s jurisdiction allows it to seize hot wallets, which would cause havoc across the crypto markets if put in action.

On The Flipside

  • The original message by Binance on Telegram has caused immense backlash from the local crypto community.
  • With over 700 comments, itโ€™s clear that the most affected customers are the Russian citizens who live in foreign countries.
  • The dissatisfied customers argue that they canโ€™t convert their Rubles held in blacklisted banks into valid balances on Binance.

Why This Matters

Binanceโ€™s regulatory compliance lays the groundwork for CeFi platforms in the future.

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This article is for information purposes only and should not be considered trading or investment advice. Nothing herein shall be construed as financial, legal, or tax advice. Trading forex, cryptocurrencies, and CFDs pose a considerable risk of loss.

Author
Tadas Klimasevskis

Tadas Klimaลกevskis is a DailyCoin Journalist, covering memecoins & latest developments. Tadas has moderate holdings in SHIB, HBAR, LTC, MATIC and a selection of low-cap meme currencies.

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