Binance to Cease Russian Ruble P2P Trading, Sells Russia Business Amid Regulatory Pressure

Binance to Cease Russian Ruble P2P Trading, Sells Russia Business Amid Regulatory Pressure

Crypto News – Binance, the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, announced on Monday its decision to cease support for peer-to-peer (P2P) trading pairs involving the Russian Ruble (RUB), including prominent cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. This strategic move is scheduled to take effect by the end of January 2024.

The announcement, made on December 11, marks a significant shift in Binance’s operations. Starting January 31, 2024, at 00:00 (UTC), the exchange will discontinue a range of RUB trading pairs, including USDT/RUB, BTC/RUB, FDUSD/RUB, BNB/RUB, ETH/RUB, BUSD/RUB, and RUB/RUB. This decision is a part of Binance’s broader strategy to exit the Russian market, following an agreement to sell its Russia-based business to CommEX, a move driven by increasing regulatory scrutiny.

Despite the phasing out of these services on Binance, users will still have the option to engage in P2P trading with the Russian Ruble on CommEX, without any additional fees. Moreover, Binance has provided avenues for users to either withdraw their Russian Rubles through the exchange’s fiat partners by a specified deadline or to convert their RUB holdings into cryptocurrencies using Binance Convert. This latter option is available after linking their Binance accounts post-registration on CommEX.

Prior to this announcement, Binance had already initiated the removal of major cryptocurrency pairs in RUB, including ETH, BNB, XRP, ADA, SOL, MATIC, LTC, DOT, and BUSD, as well as other pairs like ALGO/RUB, ARB/RUB, ARKM/RUB, ARPA/RUB, NEAR/RUB, and WLD/RUB.

This strategic withdrawal from the Russian market comes in the wake of regulatory hurdles, including an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice into allegations of money laundering and violations of sanctions. This situation led to a major leadership change at Binance, with Changpeng Zhao stepping down as CEO following a substantial $4.3 billion settlement with U.S. authorities.

In the midst of these changes, Binance’s new CEO, Richard Teng, unveiled a comprehensive strategy to maintain the exchange’s dominance in the cryptocurrency market, while upholding its core values. Teng’s immediate focus will be on a series of interviews, events, AMA sessions, and other engagements in the coming weeks, underlining the company’s commitment to its strategic direction and stakeholder engagement.