Binance shared a Russian donor’s identity data after its stated exit, raising questions over law-enforcement cooperation and GDPR exposure.
Binance responded to a 2025 request from Russian investigators for the transaction history of Yuri Belenkiy, a Russian IT specialist, supplying identity data that was folded into an interim case outline sent to the offices of Russia’s prosecutor-general, according to law-enforcement documents reviewed by Reuters.
Russia’s Investigative Committee alleged in an Oct. 13, 2025, statement that Belenkiy sent more than $700 between January 2023 and March 2024 to Ukrainian military-linked organizations, including a group known at different times as the Azov Brigade or Azov Regiment, which Moscow designates as a terrorist organization.
EXCLUSIVE: Binance gave Moscow client details used to charge Russian over Ukraine donations, documents show https://t.co/9l6X9zloGu https://t.co/9l6X9zloGu
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 17, 2026
This is not simply a routine law-enforcement data request. It is evidence that Binance retained an operational channel with Russian authorities two years after declaring a full exit from the Russian market, and that the exchange’s compliance apparatus supplied data used to prosecute a donor to Ukraine crypto donations campaigns, Moscow treats as terrorism financing.
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Binance Russia Exit and the Documents Reuters Reviewed
Binance announced in a statement carried by The Straits Times on Oct. 4, 2023, that it was making a “full exit” from Russia, with chief compliance officer Noah Perlman stating that “operating in Russia is not compatible with Binance’s compliance strategy.” The company said the process, which involved selling assets to the newly launched CommEX, would take roughly a year to complete.
Reuters reports that the cryptocurrency exchange Binance handed over data to Moscow regarding a Russian IT specialist’s donations to Ukrainian fundraisers. In October, Russia's Investigative Committee, which handles major criminal cases, stated that IT specialist Yury Belenky… pic.twitter.com/1WL1QZR4qL
— WarTranslated (@wartranslated) August 17, 2026
The documents obtained by The First Department, a Russian NGO that supports people facing politically motivated prosecutions, describe evidence gathered against Belenkiy before charges were filed; Reuters said it could not independently confirm the documents, which the NGO reported receiving from a relative of Belenkiy’s.
Reuters also found a post on Binance’s website directing Russian and Belarusian law-enforcement agencies to an email address, case@binanceholdings.ru, through which investigators received two replies containing Belenkiy’s date of birth, address, phone number, passport number, and copies of his Russian passport and Bulgarian residency permit.
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The GDPR Question and What Remains Unverified
Crypto-regulation lawyer Mike Bystrov told Reuters that if Belenkiy was registered with Binance as an EU resident, given his Bulgarian residency, the disclosure could implicate the EU’s GDPR, the General Data Protection Regulation, since Russia lacks an EU adequacy designation for data transfers.
Reuters could not establish whether Belenkiy was in fact registered as an EU customer, and the European Data Protection Board declined to comment, saying enforcement rests with national authorities; Bulgaria’s data-protection commission did not respond to Reuters’ inquiry.
Binance, in an emailed statement to Reuters, said it “cooperates with lawful information requests from law enforcement globally, subject to applicable legal, privacy and regulatory requirements,” adding that decisions on how governments use information “rest solely with the relevant Authorities.” The exchange declined to comment on Belenkiy’s case specifically, citing confidentiality around individual law-enforcement requests.
We suspect the unresolved question of Belenkiy’s customer classification will determine whether this becomes a formal GDPR enforcement matter rather than a one-off diplomatic embarrassment. Belenkiy, 49, remains jailed in Russia awaiting trial, and Reuters reported that several dozen other Russians who made similar crypto donations have faced prosecution, though the outlet said it could not verify a precise count.
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