Binance Accused of Compromising User Data Despite Russia Exit

A Russian IT specialist, Yuri Belenkiy, has been accused of terrorist financing by Russia's Investigative Committee after he allegedly sent over $700 worth of funds to Ukraine's military and another military group via Binance.

The crypto exchange gave up the transfer history of Belenkiy despite fully withdrawing its operations from Russia in 2023. Russia asked Binance to reveal further donations, and also pushed the company to disclose who else had sent funds to Arkady Babchenko, a Ukraine-supporting advocate exiled from Russia.

The payments were allegedly made between January 2023 and March 2024. Legal expert Mike Bystrov stated that Binance wasn't required to give Russia the data and that it might have even broken the EU's data laws in doing so.

Belenkiy's Bulgarian residency status would make him an EU citizen, but it's unclear whether he was registered on Binance as an EU resident. Binance claims it remains neutral and cooperates with lawful information requests from law enforcement globally, subject to applicable legal, privacy, and regulatory requirements.