Binance denies sharing users’ data with Russia | Here is what you need to know

In reaction to a story published by Reuters on Friday, Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange and the platform for blockchain projects including DAODAO and Plastiks, denied giving client data, including names and addresses, to Russia's Financial Intelligence Unit in April 2021.

According to the Reuters article, a Russian agency known as 'Rosfinmonitoring' or 'Rosfin' was aiming to trace bitcoin sent to Alexei Navalny, the now-incarcerated Russian opposition leader who was the head of a network looking to expose wrongdoing in Putin's government.

Between December 2016 and February 2021, Navalny raised millions of dollars in bitcoin donations to help his charity expose Putin's regime's corruption. After he was poisoned and then imprisoned, donations surged. Rosfin, on the other hand, has designated the foundation as a terrorist organization.

Although Rosfinmonitoring is ostensibly autonomous, it is actually a branch of the Federal Security Service (FSB), the successor to the KGB, where Vladimir Putin began his career.

Rosfin asked Binance, which was applying for a license to operate in Russia at the time, for the names of donors to the Navalny network. Following that, in April 2021, conversations between Russia's financial intelligence unit and Binance's regional chief allegedly took place behind closed doors in Moscow.

Binance has responded to what it believes are inaccurate charges made by Reuters.

It denied the results of the Reuters investigation in a blog post published Saturday, claiming that any allegations that it transferred user data to FSB-linked entities are "categorically incorrect."

"Any claims that Binance shared user data with Russian FSB, controlled agencies, or Russian regulators, including Alexei Navalny's, are totally incorrect."

Binance stated that before to Putin's invasion of Ukraine in February, it had been aggressively lobbying Russian regulators to build a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies.

Binance also stated that regulated cryptocurrency exchanges must collaborate with government officials.

"Any government or law enforcement agency in the globe can seek user data from Binance as long as the request is backed by legal authority." Russia is no exception. Binance complies with its legal duties." "Becoming a regulated business entails fulfilling disclosure obligations to the authorities in each country, and Binance complies with its legal obligations."

The worldwide exchange also maintains that following its military attack, it halted any relationship-building attempts with the Russian government and did not negotiate any special agreements with Putin's representatives.

Binance also said it "reserves the right to reject law enforcement demands that do not pass examination; this applies to all jurisdictions, including Russia."

Binance revealed email correspondence between Reuters and its officials as part of the inquiry findings in a blog post. The corporation also stated that it would file a formal complaint with the news organization, citing sensationalist journalism and sensationalism.

According to the Binance website's privacy policy. Except in limited circumstances, it claims not to sell users' data or personal information to third parties.

"We are not in the business of selling our users' personal information to outsiders, and information about our users is a vital part of our company." Binance only distributes personal information with subsidiaries or affiliates of Binance who are either subject to this Privacy Notice or implement methods that are at least as protective as those specified in this Privacy Notice."

Although there is no confirmation that Finance shared any user data with Rosfinmonitoring, Reuters reported that Kostarev met with Rosfinmonitoring officials in April, arranged by the Digital Economy Development Fund and German Klimenko, a former adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin on internet development.