Cryptocurrency Exchanges Still Offering Services to Russia Despite EU Sanctions

Last week, the European Union (EU) passed a wide variety of sanctions with the intention of putting more pressure on Russia’s administration, economy, and commerce. The ninth package of EU limitations forbade the provision of any cryptocurrency wallet, account, or custody services to Russian citizens or businesses in addition to other sanction measures.

A number of cryptocurrency exchanges have not yet complied with the European Union’s requirements, according to a report from the crypto page of the top Russian business news portal RBC, despite the fact that some companies in the sector have already suspended operations with Russian accounts in response to the situation.

One of them is behemoth cryptocurrency exchange Binance, which, according to its support service, has yet to release an official statement regarding the new penalties and is still conducting business as usual. The EU’s fifth round of restrictions, which only applied to “high-value” crypto services, forced Binance to restrict services for accounts with balances above €10,000 ($11,000 at the time).

The most popular American cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, complied with the prior European crypto sanctions, while U.S.-based Kraken did not put limitations on Russians in the spring and has not made any announcements regarding modifications in response to the latest set of EU regulations.

Customers from the Russian Federation are not subject to any limitations on the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which is registered in the island state of Antigua and Barbuda. The same holds true for Garantex, another well-known platform in Russia that still engages Russian traders.

In reaction to EU sanctions, the Seychelles-registered Huobi Global, OKX, Kucoin, and MEXC Global have not restricted Russian accounts, and the Singapore-based Bybit has informed the publication that it will not impose restrictions against Russians.

Russian Authorities Working to Legalize Crypto to Circumvent EU Restrictions

A regional leader in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, Exmo is a U.K.-based cryptocurrency exchange that sold its Russian operations, along with the rights to the Exmo.me domain and branding, to a local vendor in late April. Exmo.me still makes it easy to trade cryptocurrencies in Russia and its close allies Kazakhstan and Belarus.

According to others, cryptocurrency can be used by Russians to export wealth and get over financial sanctions. In Moscow, the idea of legalizing international cryptocurrency transfers has gained popularity, and the local authorities have been attempting to enact legislation. The EU’s move to tighten the crypto regulations may encourage the growth of Russia’s own market for digital assets, according to a recent statement by Anatoly Aksakov, the chairman of the parliamentary Financial Market Committee.