On Friday, Reuters published a “special report” claiming that the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, had reportedly complied with a request from the Russian government, which last year led to a bitcoin donation involving opposition figure Alexei Navalny. Had to provide user data (names and addresses). ,
Later on Friday afternoon, Binance responded by publishing an in-depth statement on its blog, discarding any and all claims made by the Reuters piece, arguing that it was made by “one of the most respected and trusted news agencies”. The published article was one that was “totally contrary to the reputation this outlet has built over the years and is not representative of our experience working with countless other journalists in their organization.”
In an effort to be transparent, Binance published what was termed a “full email exchange” between the exchange and Reuters reporter Angus Berwick, who, along with Tom Wilson, published the article in question, in addition to answering several questions. Berwick presented in a series of back-and-forth emails.
For the full blog post, including email exchanges, please click here.
Setting the record straight…
In its blog post, Binance sought to clarify its position, seeking to clarify several “misrepresented” statements in a Reuters article that said that any user data on Binance should be shared with Russian FSB controlled agencies and Russian regulators. Including Alexei Navalny. “Clearly false.”
In an effort to set the record straight, Binance explicitly stated the following in its Friday post:
- Before the war, Binance’s involvement in Russia was no different from any other international organization, from banks to burger restaurants.
- Like every other blockchain company operating in Russia prior to the war with Ukraine, Binance was actively pushing Russia to develop an effective crypto regulatory framework – an effort we are making in every market. in which we work.
- As soon as the war started, we stopped working in Russia. Instead, we aggressively implemented sanctions against Russia. Today, Binance is the only crypto exchange in the world to implement the latest package of measures against Russian account holders.
- We donated time and $10 million+ to a humanitarian effort to help Ukrainians in dire need – a move recognized and appreciated by Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov – personally on Zoom with CZ.
- On the specific case of non-sharing of data – today, any government or law enforcement agency in the world can request user data from Binance, as long as it has the appropriate legal authority. Russia is no different. Fulfilling disclosure obligations to authorities in each jurisdiction is a big part of becoming a regulated business and Binance fulfills its legal obligations.
- Binance reserves the right to deny law enforcement requests if they do not stand up to scrutiny; This applies to all jurisdictions, including Russia.
- Binance has not entered into any kind of agreement with the Russian government that is different from any other jurisdiction – these obligations are general and any traditional bank for example would be subject to the same requirements.
- And, to be clear. Binance has not sought to actively assist the Russian state in its efforts to investigate Alexei Navalny; In fact the prosecution case involving Navalny noted that none of the donations were the subject of investigations related to digital currencies. It is materially wrong to say so.
Can Binance Make It Legal?
Regarding the published excerpt from Reuters, Binance said it would write a formal complaint to Reuters under its own editorial code, which it copied/pasted into its blog post for users to read.
“In the commercial media, crypto content does very well. As the market leader, Binance is used to being in the headlines. Sometimes we can disagree about how we or crypto are portrayed. But more often than not, journalists work with us to educate readers.
Like any company, we make mistakes, and it’s up to the media to hold us accountable. However, there are times when the media wants to provide a false narrative, and a recent Reuters article has tried to portray – falsely – that Binance has close ties with FSB controlled agencies and Russian regulators.
We do not expect news coverage to always be positive or even balanced. But we expect it to be fair and accurate. In this case the article has been carefully written with a narrative that strikes enough balance to try to avoid a legal complaint,” the blog post reads.
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