By George Ward
Binance, the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, has withdrawn its operations from the Russian market. The latest decision comes after the firm revealed that it has sold off its entire Russian business to a new market entrant in the crypto space, CommEX.
Exiting Russia
Binance recently finalized an agreement to transfer its operations in Russia to CommEX, a crypto startup. While both parties have not disclosed the financial terms of this agreement, analysts predict that the strategic change will produce transformative results for the Russian digital finance ecosystem.
Binance has kickstarted a comprehensive off-boarding process for its Russian clients as part of its commitment to ensure the satisfaction and security of its user base. In addition, the exit process is expected to last a year, providing a smooth transition process and a hitch-free experience for all parties involved.
It is worth noting that all assets held by existing Russian users on the platform are secure and safeguarded with the highest security levels. According to Binance, its Russian operations do not align with its compliance strategy, hence the need to exit the country.
Furthermore, the crypto giant has stated that it remains committed to providing a smooth transition for its valued customers. In collaboration with CommEX, Binance is set to provide users with clear guidance on smoothly migrating their assets to the new crypto platform.
Both parties will introduce a carefully curated user migration system to help with this process. Accordingly, this system will allow a subset of Russian users who have completed their Know Your Customer (KYC) checks to transition to CommEX seamlessly.
Binance’s gradual phase-out of its operations in Russia indicates a measured and deliberate approach to the ongoing transition.
CommEX’s Emergence
The new development follows CommEX’s announcement of its official launch and subsequent foray into the Russian crypto space recently. With its comprehensive suite of trading services, the CommEX platform will cater to the cryptocurrency community in Russia.
The new platform comes with various services, such as spot trading, futures trading, and peer-to-peer (P2P) trading. After obtaining its operating license, CommEX has strategically focused its efforts on the Russian market, as evidenced by its interface, which is currently available in Russian and English.
Meanwhile, Binance’s decision to exit the Russian market has been in the works for some time. The exchange has encountered intense regulatory obstacles, particularly in adherence to the Western-backed sanctions imposed on the country due to its decision to go on a military offensive against Ukraine.
Surprisingly, Binance was actively marketing its services to Russian users as of August 2023. However, signs of the crypto platform’s exit became more pronounced when several key executives of the firm’s Russia subsidiary resigned over the past three weeks.
Data shows Russia is a critical market for the world’s largest crypto exchange. SimilarWeb data shows that Russia accounts for 6.9% of total user visits to the platform’s official website.