CommEx previously remained silent about its founders or key executives, but admitted having some former Binance Russia veterans in the team.
Russia News
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is the world’s biggest country in terms of land mass. On a map, Russia sits above Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China. Russia dwarfs China in geographic coverage but not in population, although Russia still has one of the largest populations globally. The ruble serves as Russia’s national currency.
Cryptocurrency usage in Russia faces restrictions due to legislation, including President Vladimir Putin’s 2020 law legalizing but banning crypto use for goods. A 2022 bill, at odds with the Bank of Russia, treats crypto as an investment tool, not legal tender. It proposes fines of up to 500,000 rubles for individuals and 1 million rubles for companies engaged in crypto trading or issuance.
Additionally, the Bank of Russia is actively developing a central bank digital currency, with plans to expand the pilot program by 2023 and achieve a full launch in 2025. Moreover, cryptocurrencies cannot be used for payments in Russia, and stringent criteria apply to exchanges and over-the-counter desks for licensing. Foreign exchanges must register in Russia to operate. All crypto-to-fiat transactions require bank accounts, and users must undergo Know Your Customer checks with banks and exchanges, reflecting Russia’s cautious stance on cryptocurrency regulation.
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The crypto exchange processed 989 transactions for users in Crimea from April 2020 to May 2022, according to the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
4751Binance Russia users will have slightly more than two months to withdraw their rubles from the exchange, or until Jan. 31, 2024.
7811Telegram denies that it has entered any advertising-related agreements with Russian companies.
6996Gold bars recently sold out at Costco, reflecting investors’ souring mood about the economy. Is there a silver lining for Bitcoin?
18019Binance’s buyer in Russia, CommEx, has been developing its platform for six months and has onboarded some ex-Binance employees, the firm said.
5836The sale has sparked chatter among local crypto enthusiasts, who say the two sites appear so similar that CommEx could be a “Russian version” of Binance.US.
7774The financial details of the deal remain undisclosed. However, as a full exit from Russia, Binance will have no ongoing revenue split, nor any option to buy back shares, the companies said.
4146Crypto bad actors from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea have stolen $340.4 million in 2023, down from $1.7 billion from the prior year, but that’s no reason to feel at ease.
4102Binance regional markets head Richard Teng insists that, despite regulatory scrutiny, the company has no parallels to collapsed exchange FTX.
4055Binance VP Eastern Europe Gleb Kostarev and CIS director Vladimir Smerkis have announced they have quit the company.
9215Banco de Venezuela, one of the largest financial institutions in the country, was acquired by the sanctioned government in 2009.
2956A Binance spokesperson reportedly said the global cryptocurrency exchange was considering all options in regard to Russia, “including a full exit.”
10585Russian ruble use on Binance P2P has been restricted to Russian citizens who live in the country.
4604Tinkoff Bank and Sberbank are no longer available on the list of P2P transactions on Bybit and OKX.
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