Binance considers exiting the Russian market as compliance issues continue to plague the leading cryptocurrency exchange.

Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that, despite the outbreak of the war between Ukraine and Russia, Binance continued to process a large volume of ruble transactions and facilitated the transfer of Russian assets abroad through its peer-to-peer services. Now, The Wall Street Journal once again points out that the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange is reevaluating its business in Russia, including the possibility of completely exiting this once important but now increasingly troublesome market.

Binance Swiftly Removes Russian-Related List

Following the outbreak of the Ukraine-Russia war, the United States imposed extensive sanctions on the Russian financial industry. Many Russians found themselves unable to wire rubles to foreign bank accounts or convert money into other currencies, leading to cryptocurrency becoming one of the ways for Russians to navigate around these restrictions.

According to previous reports, from October to March, the value of peer-to-peer transactions conducted by Russians amounted to approximately $428 million per month. Binance had provided at least five sanctioned Russian lending institutions as payment options for Russian customers, including Rosbank and Tinkoff Bank.

However, after the reports, Binance promptly removed these five Russian lending institutions from its website. According to a Binance spokesperson:

We regularly update our systems to ensure compliance with local and global regulatory standards. When discrepancies are brought to our attention, we seek to address and remedy them as quickly as possible.

Subsequently, a Binance spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal:

All options are on the table, including a complete exit from the Russian market.

Binance Faces Compliance Challenges in the United States

In March, Binance was sued by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), alleging that its founder, Changpeng Zhao, and three Binance entities had repeatedly violated the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations.

Following that, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also filed multiple securities law violation charges against Binance Holdings Limited and founder Changpeng Zhao in early June. This includes allegations of operating an illegal trading platform overseas in the U.S. and misusing customer funds.

Facing lawsuits from two major U.S. regulatory agencies, Binance's lawyers recently filed a motion asking the court to dismiss the CFTC's seven charges, arguing that the CFTC's lawsuit against Binance was already overreaching, and the U.S. should not have jurisdiction over the world.

However, legal proceedings are often lengthy, especially against the largest U.S. regulatory agencies. Binance's recent actions seem relatively low-key, swiftly responding to the Russian incident. After all, news had circulated in May that the U.S. Department of Justice was investigating whether Binance had violated sanctions against Russia and related matters.