In a surprising move, Binance has restored support for Russian bank card transactions, including credit cards from Visa and Mastercard, without any prior announcement. It comes after Binance blocked fiat-to-crypto exchanges for Russians following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine back in March 2022.
According to a report by Forklog, Binance’s support service confirmed to an authorized user that operations with cards from Russian banks are now available. However, an unauthorized user of the web platform, allegedly located outside the Russian Federation, was told that deposits using plastic issued in Russia are not supported.
The company Qiwi, which provides payment services, denied any cooperation agreements with Binance and noted that the exchange is not among the official suppliers of goods, works, or services in favor of which payment can be made using the “QIWI Wallet.”
It should be noted that Binance remains limited by EU sanctions that forbid the exchange from offering its services to legal entities based in Russia or Russian citizens residing in the Russian Federation within the EU and EEA territories, except for citizens or residents of Switzerland or the EEA.
However, this move by Binance may be seen as a positive development for Russian cryptocurrency traders, who can now use their bank cards to buy and sell cryptocurrencies on the platform. Whether other exchanges will follow Binance’s lead and restore support for Russian bank card transactions remains to be seen.
Binance & Russian Cryptocurrency Traders
A few days ago, Binance flash news reported that the Bank of Russia is working on a bill to allow the use of cryptocurrencies in export-import deals, according to the regulatory agency’s head, Elvira Naiullina.
However, crypto trading and payments within Russia will still be prohibited. The government is also developing a bill to establish a national agency for licensing and supervising crypto platforms in the country. A new tax code for miners is set to be introduced.
Naiullina stated that the bank’s plan includes creating special organizations for mining crypto and processing payments for cross-border trade deals, but it remains unclear what these organizations might be.
The Bank of Russia is in talks with the government to define the type of organizations that can participate in the experiment. In the early stages, government-sponsored companies are likely to be involved.
Nevertheless, the move comes after the Bank of Russia and the country’s Ministry of Finance agreed that crypto payments could be used to facilitate cross-border transactions following international sanctions on Russia.
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