Binance successor in Russia: Everything you need to know about CommEx, so far
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has claimed that it will fully quit Russia by selling its local business to a completely new exchange known as CommEx. While promising its customers a “smooth” migration, Binance hasn’t provided much information about its successor in Russia.
At the time of the announcement, little is known about CommEx’s founders or background. The exchange was launched on Sept. 26, 2023, just one day before Binance announced the sale of its business to the newly created exchange for an undisclosed amount.
A spokesperson for CommEx didn’t respond to multiple questions from users about the company’s owners or executives in the official Telegram group. The person claimed that CommEx is registered in the Seychelles and will serve its customers as a global exchange focused on two main regions: the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Asia.
CommEx already on Binance-owned CoinMarketCap
At launch, CommEx supports only a browser version, with the firm promising to introduce a mobile app in the near future. Despite being launched just one day ago, CommEx is already listed on CoinMarketCap, a major crypto tracking website that Binance acquired in April 2020. On the other hand, rival market tracker CoinGecko doesn’t include any information about CommEx at the time of writing.
According to CoinMarketCap data, CommEx lists 25 trading pairs at launch, including stablecoins like Tether (USDT) and Binance’s BNB (BNB) cryptocurrency. “CommEx is a rapidly expanding cryptocurrency exchange, backed by top-tier crypto VCs,” the description of the new exchange on CoinMarketCap reads.
CommEx will initially support peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions in Russia, allowing users to exchange their crypto without using the platform’s fiat channels. The platform will launch spot trading of USDT against Russia’s fiat currency, the ruble, once fiat channels are live, according to a spokesperson in CommEx’s Telegram group.
A spokesperson for Binance told Cointelegraph that it would be “entirely optional” for Binance users to move over to CommEx. “You may also withdraw your funds to another platform if you’d like,” the person noted, adding that users would still be able to migrate their assets to CommEx. The spokesperson added:
“Russia KYC’d new users registration will immediately be redirected to CommEX. Then, over the next several months, Binance will sunset all exchange services and business lines in Russia.”
According to the CommEx representative, users can trade without completing Know Your Customer (KYC) checks for up to 2 Bitcoin (BTC) in withdrawals. The firm will not allow account registration or services in locations including the United States, Belgium, the Republic of Cyprus, Czechia, the Netherlands and Singapore, as well as sanctioned regions like Iran and Crimea, CommEx’s location restrictions page reads.
The spokesperson also said it’s unlikely that Binance’s contactless payment tool, Binance Pay, will continue to work with CommEx.
Users question CommEx ownership
Binance’s announcement has triggered some speculation in the local crypto community regarding the owners of Binance’s successor in Russia. Some users have found similarities in the layouts of Binance and CommEx’s websites, while others said that CommEx was a “full copy” of Binance’s website.
“They just changed the logo and colors but essentially it’s the same website. I wouldn’t be surprised if Russian tops who left banana [Binance] would be managing directors here,” one commenter wrote in a now-deleted comment on CommEx’s Telegram group.
Among the similarities are significant resemblances between Binance and CommEx’s privacy notices and other website pages like terms of use. For example, CommEx’s privacy notice essentially provides a reworded copy of Binance’s privacy notice, closely following its structure and many formulations.
Russia has been one of Binance’s biggest markets, and the country is listed as the top market in terms of user visits for the website Binance.com, accounting for 6.9% of total visits at the time of writing, according to data from SimilarWeb.
“I don’t think that CZ [Changpeng Zhao] is ready to abandon such a huge pie like Russia and leave just like that,” one local cryptocurrency observer told Cointelegraph. Some people in the community have drawn parallels between CommEx in Russia and Binance’s affiliate in the United States, Binance.US, which claims to operate “independently” of Binance.
“It looks like some sort of Binance.US but just without the word ‘Binance’ in its name,” another local crypto enthusiast told Cointelegraph.
Related: Binance and CEO Changpeng Zhao ask court to dismiss SEC suit
A spokesperson for Binance declined to comment on whether the company is aware of CommEx’s founders or executives. CommEx’s spokesperson declined to comment immediately, stating that the firm is focused on “platform optimization and stability,” as the CommEx website briefly went down amid Russian users rushing to the website after Binance made the announcement. CommEx’s Russian Telegram group, which had just about 50 members before the announcement, now counts nearly 2,000 users.
“With this sale, Binance fully exits Russia. We have no plans to get back,” a spokesperson for Binance told Cointelegraph.
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The European Union is considering a partial halt to its landmark artificial intelligence laws in response to pressure from the US government and Big Tech companies.
The European Commission plans to ease part of its digital rulebook, including the AI Act that took effect last year, as part of a “simplification package” that is to be decided on Nov. 19, the Financial Times reported on Friday.
If approved, the proposed halt could allow generative AI providers currently operating in the market a one-year compliance grace period and delay enforcement of fines for violations of AI transparency rules until August 2027.
“When it comes to potentially delaying the implementation of targeted parts of the AI Act, a reflection is still ongoing,” the commission’s Thomas Regnier told Cointelegraph, adding that the EC is working on the digital omnibus to present it on Nov. 19.
EU’s AI Act entered into force in August 2024
The commission proposed the first EU AI law in April 2021, with the mission of establishing a risk-based AI classification system.
Passed by the European Parliament and the European Council in 2023, the European AI Act entered into force in August 2024, with provisions expected to be implemented gradually over the next six to 36 months.
According to the FT, a bulk of the provisions for high-risk AI systems, which can pose “serious risks” to health, safety or citizens’ fundamental rights, are set to come into effect in August 2026.
With the draft “simplification” proposal, companies breaching the rules on the highest-risk AI use could reportedly receive a “grace period” of one year.
Related: EU mulls SEC-like oversight for stock, crypto exchanges to bolster startup landscape
The proposal is still subject to informal discussions within the commission and with EU states and could still change ahead of its adoption on Nov. 19, the report noted.
“Various options are being considered, but no formal decision has been taken at this stage,” the EC’s Regnier told Cointelegraph, adding: “The commission will always remain fully behind the AI Act and its objectives.”
“AI is an incredibly disruptive technology, the full implications of which we are still only just beginning to fully appreciate,” Mercuryo co-founder and CEO Petr Kozyakov said, adding:
“Ultimately, Europe’s competitiveness will depend on its ability to set high standards without creating barriers that may risk letting innovation take place elsewhere.”
The EU’s potential suspension of parts of the AI Act underscores Brussels’ evolving approach to digital regulation amid intensifying global competition from the US and China.
After the US explicitly banned central bank digital currency (CBDC) development in early 2025, the European Central Bank accelerated work on the digital euro but later said that digital cash would not launch before 2029.
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