Roskomnadzor has added the site of the Binance crypto exchange to the list of banned sites in Russia

Roskomnadzor (the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media) has notified one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges  Binance about entering it into the register of prohibited sites. So far, the site in Russia is not blocked and continues to work.

“On September 24, 2020, we received a notification from Roskomnadzor of the Russian Federation about the introduction of the site binance.com to the domain name registry containing information prohibited for distribution in Russia. According to the letter, this is information about the possibility of purchasing an electronic cryptocurrency (Bitcoin),” reported the press service of the crypto exchange.

As noted in Binance, the company has not previously received notifications from law enforcement and civil government services, as well as from the judicial authorities about the existence of any lawsuits or court decisions.

“We also continue to provide services to Russian users in full, and customer funds are safe,” said the company.

At the moment, the site in Russia is not blocked and is working.  It is worth noting that the crypto exchange intends to challenge the decision of Roskomnadzor to enter it in the register of prohibited sites in court, told the Director of Binance in Russia Gleb Kostarev.

“Binance values its reputation and does not intend to agree with the court’s decision, as well as with the intention of Roskomnadzor… The company plans to challenge the Agency’s decision in court,” said Mr Kostarev.

“There have already been precedents in court practice when other crypto sites have challenged such decisions,” added he.

Experts estimate the chances of Binance getting the block cancellation in court as high. Alexander Zhuravlev, managing partner of the law firm EDB, called the court order to block Binance as unfounded. In Russia, there is no ban on the turnover of cryptocurrencies. Last fall, changes were made to the State Code that legalized digital rights, including cryptocurrencies.