Disclaimer: This article has been updated at 5:57 UTC after new information valid to the narrative was identified.
Binance has reportedly lifted restrictions on Russian users that were imposed about a year back. In 2022, the European Union imposed sanctions on Russia as a response to its war against Ukraine. Right after, the largest crypto exchange by trade volume announced that all transactions initiated with Mastercard and Visa cards issued in Russia will not be available on its platform. Now, crypto news website ForkLog recently reported that users can deposit Russian rubles, euros, British pounds, and other currencies using bank cards issued in Russia. This means that it has likely lifted restrictions on users of the said region.
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The U.S. dollar, however, seems to be off the list. Specifically, the report noted,
“Russian cardholders can top up their account in rubles, Turkish liras, British pounds, euros, Kazakhstani tenge, Australian dollars, Ukrainian hryvnias, Czech crowns and other currencies. Deposits in U.S. dollars are not available.”
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All restrictions are being adhered to: Binance spokesperson
According to ForkLog, the Binance support service confirmed to an authorized user that operations with cards of Russian banks are available again on the exchange. In fact, a few days back, Russian users also revealed that Binance lifted limits for accounts with balances of more than 10,000 euros.
However, a Binance spokesperson clarified that the exchange follows global sanctions rules. In fact, it also enforces sanctions on people, organizations, entities, and countries that have been blacklisted by the international community. With respect to the situation in Russia, the Binance representative said,
“All current restrictions related to sanctions against Russian nationals are applied by the platform and its legal entities in the European Union in full.”
The spokesperson further went on to stress that the Binance compliance team has more than 750 people worldwide. Close to half of them are directly involved in sanctions control work. The Binance representative added,
“In accordance with the tenth package of restrictive measures of the EU against Russia, access to buying and selling USD & EUR on the Binance P2P platform for Russian citizens, as well as any individuals residing in Russia, regardless of nationality, is prohibited.“
Earlier this month, an Australian regulator canceled Binance Australia’s derivatives license. However, this revocation was requested by the exchange itself. That said, Binance will no longer be allowed to offer derivatives services to its Australian clients. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission [ASIC] instructed the exchange to close all of its clients’ derivatives positions before April 21. The said move is part of a “targeted review of Binance financial services business in Australia.” It also includes the sorting of its wholesale as well as retail clients.
Read More: Australian Regulators Cancel Binance’s Derivatives License