The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced at the end of January that it would permanently stop peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions made with the Russian Ruble (RUB), including those involving Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). This decision came after Binance’s move to sell all of its assets in Russia to the newly established CommEx cryptocurrency exchange.
The official statement mentioned that P2P transactions with RUB would be terminated by January 31, 2024, Turkey Standard Time, and that trading pairs like USDT/RUB and BTC/RUB would be removed from the P2P platform. This move by Binance is part of a withdrawal from the Russian market and the asset sale process to CommEx.
Users will be able to continue P2P trading with RUB on CommEx without any fees. Additionally, they have the option to withdraw their RUBs through Binance’s fiat partners or convert them to cryptocurrency using the Binance Convert feature. These transactions can be executed after registering with CommEx and linking the Binance account to the platform.
In November of this year, Binance began removing trading pairs with RUB for major cryptocurrencies such as ETH, BNB, XRP, ADA, SOL, and also took other trading pairs like ALGO/RUB and ARB/RUB off the market.
Binance was compelled to withdraw from the Russian market due to an investigation by the US Department of Justice into money laundering and sanction violations. Furthermore, CEO Changpeng Zhao resigned from his position following a $4.3 billion settlement with US authorities. The new CEO, Richard Teng, has since attracted attention with significant interviews, events, and AMA sessions.