Binance Denies Rumored Ties With Russian FSB-Controlled Agencies

Binance posted a statement denying a Reuters report suggesting that the crypto exchange had agreed to share user data with Russian FSB-controlled agencies.

Binance exchange responded to a recent Reuters report saying that it had agreed to share user information with a Russian financial intelligence agency called Rosfin that collects and analyzes data, and added that it would be making a formal complaint to Reuters citing the media company’s own editorial code.

Binance wrote:

“Like any company, we make mistakes, and it’s the media’s job to hold us accountable. However there are times when media seek to provide a false narrative, and a recent article by Reuters has sought to portray – falsely – that Binance has close ties with FSB controlled agencies and Russian regulators.”  

According to the Reuters report, Gleb Kostarev, the Binance head of Eastern Europe and Russia, consented to Rosfin’s request to agree to share client data.

Back in April 2021, Rosfin was seeking to trace millions of dollars in bitcoin raised by jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the report claimed. 

Binance responded:

“Suggestions that Binance shared any user data, including Alexei Navalny, with Russian FSB controlled agencies and Russian regulators are categorically false.”

Binance representative told The Block that the company did not assist the Russian state in its attempts to investigate Navalny.

According to Binance, before the on-going situation in Ukraine, its engagement in Russia was the same any other international organization.

After the war began, Binance stopped working in Russia and has “aggressively implemented sanctions,” noting that is has also donated more than $10 million to the humanitarian effort to help Ukrainians.