Binance, which is being sued by US regulators for a wide range of issues along with facing other major compliance and operational challenges, has entered into an agreement to sell the entirety of its Russia business to CommEX.
To ensure a smooth process for existing Russian users, the off-boarding process “will take up to one year.”
All assets of existing Russian users “are safe and securely protected,” according to a release.
Noah Perlman, Binance‘s Chief Compliance Officer, said:
“As we look toward the future, we recognise that operating in Russia is not compatible with Binance’s compliance strategy. We remain confident in the long-term growth of the web3 industry around the world and will focus our energy on the 100+ other countries in which we operate.”
There will be an orderly process for the migration of users.
Binance and CommEX will partner “to inform users how to migrate their assets to CommEX. A portion of Russian KYC’d new user registration will immediately be redirected to CommEX and will scale up over time.”
Over the next several months, Binance will sunset “all exchange services and business lines in Russia. Every effort will be made to maintain a smooth user experience during this transition.”
While financial details of the deal will not be disclosed, it is important “to note that with this sale, Binance fully exits Russia.”
Unlike similar deals from international companies in Russia, Binance will “have no ongoing revenue split from the sale, nor does it maintain any option to buy back shares in the business.”
As covered, Binance claims it is the world’s leading blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider with a financial product suite that includes the largest digital asset exchange by volume.
“Trusted” by more than 150 million users worldwide, the Binance platform is dedicated to increasing the freedom of money “for users and features an unmatched portfolio of crypto products and offerings, including: trading and finance, education, data and research, social good, investment and incubation, decentralization and infrastructure solutions, and more.”
Binance says it has “built a robust compliance program and has earned licenses and registrations in 18 countries around the world, with five more announced since January 2023.”