The leading crypto exchange Binance has strictly denied the allegations of sharing Russian user’s donation data with the nation’s authorities to track down donations made to the opposition. This statement was in response to an investigation reported on Friday.
As per the investigation, Binance head of Eastern Europe and Russia, Gleb Kostarev met with Russia’s anti-money laundering agency, Rosfinmonitoring (Rosfin).
The report also suggests that as per Kostarev’s messages he “consented to Rosfin’s request to agree to share client data,” and told a colleague he didn’t have “much of a choice”.
Meanwhile, Rosfinmonitoring was tracking crypto donations to the organizations of Russia’s opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
It was reported that Navalny had raised millions from supporters, with new funds pouring in after his assassination attempt followed by his arrest in Russia last year.
Binance clarified on its blog that suggestions that Binance shared any user data, including that of Alexei Navalny, with Russian FSB-controlled agencies and Russian regulators are categorically false.
It further read that Binance has not actively assisted the Russian state in its attempts to investigate Navalny.
Kostarev, in turn, posted on his Facebook page that it was “an absolute lie” that he or Binance “leaked the data of Navalny or users to Rosfin or FSB”.
The blog said that government or law enforcement agencies can request user data from Binance if the request is accompanied by proper legal authority, Russia being no different.
The crypto exchange “will be writing a formal complaint to Reuters under their own editorial code,” the statement reads.
Binance also shared emails it received from the aforementioned media outlet, as well as its responses.
In particular, Binance Chief Communications Officer Patrick Hillmann, requested for an “off-the-record conversation” from the media firm and complained they did not agree, “as there is quite an interesting story that should be told here, but we simply can’t share it without putting our peoples’ lives in danger,” Hillmann wrote.
He did not explain what ‘danger’ was he referring to.
Russia has already been witnessing a lot of heat from the Western world with the ongoing Ukrainian invasion. Recently, Binance, too, started limiting services in Russia following the European Union’s (EU) crypto sanctions.
