Binance has informed its customers that peers who are Russian nationals or residing in the country and companies operating in Russia are prohibited from engaging in trading activities on its P2P marketplace that involves the US dollar or euro.
Additionally, traders based in the EU are not permitted to conduct transactions using Russian rubles. However, Russia-linked consumers with verified addresses and asset holdings below ten thousand euros can use alternative fiat currencies.
Binance has not frozen the accounts of all Russian customers. However, it has blocked the accounts of Russian peers sanctioned since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began.
At first, several virtual asset exchanges, including Binance, refused to impose a complete sanction on Russian customers to prevent their platforms from being used to circumvent Western sanctions. Finally, however, they had to adhere to the sanctions as US and European authorities warned that deviating from traditional finance would undermine their efforts to abandon Moscow.
Western politicians have imposed sanctions that prevent Russian residents and companies from utilizing cryptocurrencies. However, they are concerned that this type of virtual asset could be used to bypass the sanctions.
The largest cryptocurrency exchange globally has prohibited Russian citizens or residents from trading or making new deposits if their crypto holdings exceed ten thousand euros. The impacted clients have been given a grace period of ninety days to withdraw their funds and close their positions.
However, verified accounts of Russian customers residing outside Russia, with proof of address and a total value below ten thousand EUR, are still operational and have not been impacted by the restrictions.
In October, the European Union reinforced its sanction on providing digital-asset services to Russia. In addition, it has now implemented a comprehensive sanction on offering virtual asset services to Russian citizens, which implies that they cannot hold any assets in EU virtual asset accounts unless they are residents of the EU.
The EU’s latest sanctions against Russia include a complete sanction on offering Russian citizens cryptocurrency and virtual asset services. This step is part of a wider package of measures to counter the “fake” independence referendums in Ukrainian regions under Russian control.
As part of its response to independence referendums held in Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine, the EU announced its eighth package of restrictive measures against Russia, which includes a prohibition on offering cryptocurrency and virtual asset services to Russians.
The package also includes other financial sanctions, such as a value limit on Russian oil, a sanction on exporting aviation products and electronic components, and restrictions on importing Russian goods that could result in a loss of more than 6.5 billion euros for the country.
Binance to Suspend GBP Provider On- and Off-Ramp
Binance has faced challenges with its banking associate for transactions involving the United States dollar in recent months. In addition, Binance is in urgent search of a replacement service provider to handle British pound transfers on its platform, following the decision of its present partner, Skrill Limited, to discontinue offering services to the cryptocurrency platform.
On March 13, Binance emailed its customers that Skrill would no longer offer its Fast Payments Service and card for processing pound deposits and withdrawals for the crypto exchange, starting May 22.
The announcement from Binance to its customers on March 13 stated that Skrill Limited, their fiat partner for British pounds, has informed them that they will no longer offer deposit and withdrawal services using Fast Payments and cards to Binance users. The statement expressed regret over this development.