Reuters Special Report: Binance's regional head agrees to share user data with Russian financial regulators unverified.

Reuters reported in a lengthy article that the cryptocurrency exchange Binance's regional manager for Eastern Europe and Russia agreed to share customer data with Russia's financial intelligence agency to assist in combating crime. According to sources, the agency known as Rosfinmonitoring is investigating the fundraising of millions of dollars in Bitcoin by imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Navalny's organization has been designated as a terrorist group by Rosfinmonitoring, but Navalny claims the donations were intended to expose corruption within the Putin government.

Reuters stated that Binance's regional manager for Eastern Europe and Russia, Gleb Kostarev, shared customer data and indicated that he had little choice in the matter.

In response to this news, Binance's regional manager for Eastern Europe and Russia did not comment. Binance informed Reuters that they have not received any contact from the Russian government regarding Navalny.

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On 4/21, Binance just released an announcement stating that due to EU sanctions, they are required to restrict services providing over 10,000 euros of crypto assets to Russian nationals or residents, or legal entities established in Russia.

Binance Response: No Such Thing

On April 23, Binance officially released a statement stating that the report by Reuters claiming that Binance shared user data, including Alexei Navalny, with Russian regulators is absolutely false.

Binance's Attitude Towards Various Regulators

Binance stated that, regarding the specific issue of not sharing data, as of now, with proper legal authorization, any government or law enforcement agency in the world can request user data from Binance, including Russia. Binance believes that compliance with disclosure obligations to various jurisdictions is an important part of being a compliant company, and Binance fulfills its legal obligations. If a law enforcement request does not stand up to scrutiny, Binance reserves the right to refuse such requests; this applies to all jurisdictions, including Russia.

Binance stated that it has not signed any agreements with the Russian government that differ from obligations common to other jurisdictions. Furthermore, it did not actively assist the Russian government in investigating Alexei Navalny.

In the announcement, Binance also disclosed the full email correspondence with Reuters from a previous interview, pointing out many contradictions between the facts and the reported information.