- Russian users of Binance have reported being able to deposit fiat currencies into their accounts for the first time in over a year
- Russians were banned from depositing cash into their accounts following the invasion in February 2022
- Binance says it is still complying with EU sanctions
Binance appears to have lifted restrictions it put in place on Russian users last year in the wake of the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Russian news website Forklog reported on Saturday that users were suddenly able to deposit money into their accounts again following the ban in March, which comes after some Russian users reported increased functionality last month. Binance hasn’t confirmed or denied any such lifting, saying only that it is complying with international sanctions requirements.
Fiat Deposit Ban Followed Invasion
Binance never officially banned Russian users from trading crypto on the platform following the invasion last February, but the following month it did announce it would stop supporting deposits from Visa and Mastercard cards issued in Russia, as well as any Visa and Mastercard deposits made within the country.
This was in response to the EU and the US imposing sanctions that led to a ban on Russian bank cards, which resulted in most Russian banks being disconnected from SWIFT, the international interbank settlement network.
The EU later expanded its sanctions and disallowed crypto services from catering to Russian users whose account balances exceeded 10,000 euros. This threshold was removed months later, rendering it impossible for Russian citizens and residents to utilize any crypto service registered in the EU. Consequently, LocalBitcoins, Crypto.com, and Blockchain.com informed Russian users of the impending closure of their accounts.
Russians Starting to Buy Crypto Again
Already this month Russian users have been reporting that Binance had lifted limits for accounts with balances larger than €10,000, and Forklog’s report over the weekend suggests that Russian users are now able to deposit fiat currencies into their accounts using Russian bank cards.
Binance has not officially released a statement on either of these changes, but it told Coindesk that it is still applying EU sanctions.
