Binance, one of the top global crypto exchanges has fiercely rejected claims that it assisted Russian authorities to track donations channeled to the opposition figures in the country. The news came about as a response to an investigation published on Friday by Reuters.
According to the publication by Reuters, the head of Binance for Eastern Europe and Russia, Gleb Kostarev met with the Russian anti-money laundering agency (Rosfinmonitoring) in April last year. Messages reviewed by Reuters revealed that Kostarev agreed to share client data with the Russian agency. He later told his colleagues that he didn’t have much of a choice.
Around the same period, it is alleged that Rosfinmonitoring was exploring ways of tracking down crypto donations to ab organization led by Russia’s opposition leader, Alexei Navalny. The organization raised millions in donations from supporters across the world. The figures went even higher after an assassination attempt that happened in 2021.
On Friday this week, Binance posted on its official Facebook page terming the claims “an absolute lie” that the company leaked of Russia’s opposition leader and other users to Rosfin.
“Today, it is possible for any law enforcement agency or government in the world to ask for user data provided it is accompanied by a proper legal backing. Russia is not an exception”, read the statement. It continued to say that so far the crypto exchange has not reached at any agreement with the Russian government that is different from any other country.
Binance said that it will be writing a formal complaint to Reuters over the allegation through its own editorial code.
The company also published a series of emails they received from Reuters and the response it gave. The Chief Communication Officer of Binance, Patrick Hillmann specifically sought clarification from Reuters regarding “off-record conversation” and said that the media company refused to talk about the issue.
Indirect evidence
Despite the fact that there are no clear indications that Binance shared user information with the Russian law enforcement agency, Reuters pointed out that Kostarev agreed to a meeting in April last year arranged by the Digital Economy Development Fund where he met with Rosfinmonitoring officials.
Dil Bole Oberoi
