Binance, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has reportedly removed several sanctioned Russian banks from its peer-to-peer (P2P) trading service. The news, first reported by The Wall Street Journal on August 25, highlights Binance’s commitment to compliance with global regulatory standards.
According to a quote from Binance, the exchange regularly updates its systems to ensure compliance, addressing and remediating any identified gaps as quickly as possible. Payment methods that do not align with the exchange’s compliance policies are not made available on the platform.
The report discloses that five banks are no longer accessible on Binance’s P2P crypto trading service, where users can make direct transfers to and from bank accounts in exchange for cryptocurrencies. This move comes in response to controversy surrounding these Russian banks, as The Wall Street Journal had previously reported Binance’s involvement in peer-to-peer trading with them.
Reports from Russian media indicated that Binance had renamed certain bank options to disguise their sanctioned status. For example, the state-owned Sberbank and neobank Tinkoff were displayed as “green local card” and “yellow local card,” respectively, matching the color schemes of those banks’ logos.
The delisted and sanctioned banks, including Rosbank, were identified by The Wall Street Journal. It remains unclear which other Russian banks were initially available or have since been removed from Binance’s P2P trading platform.
Despite the removal of these sanctioned banks, Binance’s P2P exchange still supports other Russian banks that are either not sanctioned or partially sanctioned. The exchange provides 16 Russian payment methods, including major banks like Russian Standard Bank, Home Credit Bank, and Raiffeisenbank. Additionally, Russian users can make non-bank transfers through payment processors such as Payeer and Advcash.
It is worth noting that Binance’s P2P policies are separate from its main exchange policies, which have also been relaxed recently. In April 2022, Binance imposed a €10,000 limit on Russian accounts, but it lifted that restriction in April 2023.
In summary, Binance’s decision to remove sanctioned Russian banks from its P2P trading service demonstrates its commitment to compliance with global regulatory standards. While the exchange continues to make other Russian banks available for P2P trading, the move highlights Binance’s determination to address any gaps and ensure a compliant trading environment for its users.
Source: The Wall Street Journal via CryptoSlate
