The Biggest Player in Crypto Is Facing a Risk Over Russia

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Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission have previously accused the company and its founder Zhao of a slew of violations and compliance failures. Binance has said that it had sought to address authorities’ concerns, and that it is committed to transparency and cooperation with regulators and law enforcement. The company has said it intends to defend itself vigorously against the SEC charges.

Zhao has also said Binance didn’t agree with the characterization of many issues alleged in the CFTC complaint. The U.S. has imposed broad sanctions on Russia’s financial sector, forcing other banks to sever ties or risk steep penalties.

Many Russians, even if they themselves aren’t sanctioned, can’t wire rubles to bank accounts abroad or convert the money to other currencies. Crypto has helped to fill the void. Russians can exchange rubles for digital currencies, particularly stablecoins that are pegged to the dollar, such as tether.

Those stablecoins can then be swapped for hard currency at brokerages abroad or transferred into other crypto wallets as a form of payment. “Everyone uses cryptocurrencies—except perhaps for my grandmother," said Tatiana Maksimenko, a Russian businesswoman who formerly worked at another crypto exchange and who now runs a Montenegro-based marketing agency called IdolMe. Binance is one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges in Russia, she said.

The main route for Russians to convert rubles into crypto has been via peer-to-peer services, according to the Bank of Russia. From October through March, Russians made peer-to-peer trades worth the equivalent of around $428 million each month at recent exchange rates, the central bank said. The U.S.