Binance Hands Over Client Data, Aids Russian Man's Terrorism Trial

A Russian IT specialist, Yuri Belyenky, has been detained and is being held in a pretrial detention center for allegedly financing terrorism. The charges stem from his transfer of over $700 to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the Azov Brigade between January 2023 and March 2024.

Belyenky's payments were made through digital wallets published by opposition journalist Arkady Babchenko, which were used for the purchase of medical equipment for Ukrainian defenders. Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange, handed over confidential client data to Russian law enforcement agencies in response to official requests from the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation.

The company claimed that it was merely complying with legitimate international requests from law enforcement agencies in accordance with regulatory standards. However, lawyers note that disclosing an EU resident's data without a court order may violate the European GDPR, since Russia is not considered a country with an adequate level of data protection.