Binance Limits Services to Russian Users to Comply With EU Sanctions – Exchanges Bitcoin News

Digital asset exchange Binance has begun limiting Russian client services following the EU’s latest sanctions against Russia. It pledged leadership in the field to implement the sanctions and called on all the major trading platforms for their support.

Crypto Exchange Binance reduces services to Russian accounts in accordance with EU penalties

Binance, the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, is restricting services for Russian nationals or natural persons residing in Russia and legal entities established in the Russian Federation that have crypto assets exceeding €10,000 ($10,800) in value.

The move is in compliance with the European Union’s fifth package of sanctions on Russia, the company said in an announcement on Thursday. Earlier in April, the EU member states agreed to ban the provision of “high-value” crypto asset services to Russian businesses and citizens in response to Moscow’s ongoing military invasion of Ukraine.

Customers must now verify their addresses with Binance. The exchange stated that accounts classified under this restriction would be placed in withdrawal-only mode and will prevent their owners from making deposits or trading. This applies to futures and spot trading, as well as custody wallets and staked or earned deposits.

Furthermore, all deposits to accounts for Russian nationals and residents or Russia-based legal entities with over €10,000 will be restricted. Users with open futures/derivatives positions who have balances exceeding that amount will have 90 days to close them out and won’t be able to open new positions.

At the same time, accounts of Russian nationals residing outside the Russian Federation and those of Russian citizens, residents, and companies in Russia that remain below the €10,000-threshold will not be affected and will remain active, Binance emphasized.

“While these measures are potentially restrictive to normal Russian citizens, Binance must continue to lead the industry in implementing these sanctions. We believe all other major exchanges must follow the same rules soon,” the company stated.

The reactions of crypto exchanges to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia have been varied. While major South Korean platforms restricted Russians’ access days after their country invaded, leading global platforms, including Binance, denied a request by the government in Kyiv to unilaterally freeze the accounts of all Russian users.

In early March, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao told Bloomberg the exchange was freezing the accounts of sanctioned Russian individuals but insisted that blocking all Russians from accessing the platform would be “unethical.” The executive also dismissed concerns that cryptocurrencies could help Moscow circumvent western sanctions.

Do expect other cryptocurrency exchanges to comply with the European Union’s sanctions on Russia? Please let us know your thoughts in the comment section.

Lubomir Tassav

Lubomir Tassev is a journalist from tech-savvy Eastern Europe who likes Hitchens’s quote: “Being a writer is what I am, rather than what I do.” Besides crypto, blockchain and fintech, international politics and economics are two other sources of inspiration.