Ukraine Exchange Founder Accused Binance Of Cooperating With Russians

A Ukraine exchange founder accused Binance of cooperating with the Russian government and said that the platform hasn’t made its promised $10 million donations as we can see more today in our latest binance news.

Michael Chobanian, a Ukraine exchange founder claims that the Binance crypto exchange is working with the Russian governemnt despite the global sanctions and it has been for a while now. Chobanian said that the CEO Changpeng Zhao has to decide where Binance stands in dealing with Russia after the invasion of the country in late February. Chobanian said:

“The problem with Binance is not just that they still continue working on both sides, it’s that they showed cooperation with the Russian government before the war, and as far as I know, they still continue cooperating with the Russian government.”

Binance is the biggest crypto exchange in the world by volume and announced it has no plans to ban Russian users from the platform but that it will take action against those that had sanctions levied against them. A binance spokesperson Jessica Jung noted:

“We prefer not to comment on false accusations. Our focus is on helping people.”

She also quoted a press release announcing Binance’s $10 million donations and launch of a crowdfunding site dubbed Ukraine emergency Relief fund. Chobanian offered no proof that the exchange is working with the Russian governemnt but the market has long been an important one for Binance. Zhao even called Russia a key market and said that they are looking for partners in the community, especially in Russia. Zhao also said that the financial sanctions are not a crypto-specific issue and that blocking the Russian users from the exchange would be unethical.

On the other hand, Russian authorities sent some mixed signals about crypto with the central bank advocated for but the governemnt proposed to regulate it instead. Chobanian is the president of the Blockchain Association of Ukraine and appeared before the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs for a hearing on “the Role of Digital Assets In Illicit finance” and also accused binance of not taking an aggressive stance against the Russian government. He added:

“The first thing we did as a crypto community in Ukraine was to shut down all ruble operations because that was a big hole in the sanctions list. … Unfortunately, not all crypto companies followed our lead, mainly Binance. The only way for them to exist outside of Russia right now is crypto, probably. Obviously, not being able to buy a house or a car, but at least you can survive.”