Binance Customer Data Used in Terrorism Prosecution Raises Questions About Exchange Exit Limits
A former crypto user, Yuri Belenkiy, has been detained by Russian authorities on charges of sending over $700 in cryptocurrency to Ukrainian recipients between January 2023 and March 2024. The transactions allegedly supported a group linked to the Azov military unit, which Moscow designates as a terrorist organization.
The case raises questions about the limits of an exchange's exit from a jurisdiction. Binance sold its Russian business to CommEX in September 2023, but its customer records remained available. When investigators requested transaction records connected with Belenkiy, Binance provided them, including personal data and passport information.
The documents reviewed by Reuters show that the exchange supplied records later incorporated into a Russian terrorism-financing case against Belenkiy. While Binance cooperates with law enforcement requests under applicable laws, it denied any role in deciding what charges authorities file or how they use information once produced.