Binance to Exit Russian Market Through CommEX Deal

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, announced yesterday (September 27) that it has entered into an agreement to sell the entirety of its Russia business to a new crypto exchange, 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," Binance stated in the announcement.

Noah Perlman, Chief Compliance Officer of Binance, 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.

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.