The Russian Banks’ Association has established a specialised expert centre for cryptocurrency regulation.
Despite the fact that Binance has suspended operations in countries such as Israel due to licencing issues, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume continues to deepen ties with Russia.
Binance announced its membership in the Russian Association of Banks on Thursday, with the goal of facilitating communication with local authorities, parliamentarians, and cryptocurrency professionals.
The group, which was founded in 1990, now includes over 300 banks and financial institutions in Russia, accounting for almost 90% of the country’s banking infrastructure.
Binance’s participation in the association was accepted by the association’s council, resulting in the establishment of a dedicated specialist centre for digital financial assets and digital currencies. The objective of the expert centre is to compile professional studies on the circulation of digital assets in Russia, give expert data on the topic to the association and its representatives, and report on foreign experience with crypto assets.
The association’s expert centre was led by Olga Goncharova, Binance’s director in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), who was recognised by the association’s praesidium council. In January, Goncharova joined the crypto exchange to help with compliance in Russia and the CIS. She was a department director at the Bank of Russia before joining Binance.
When introducing Goncharova, Association president Georgy Luntovsky stated that she will be in charge of ensuring that the circulation of digital currencies in Russia is properly monitored. “She is a good choice, in our perspective, to manage the forum where the professional community can explore approaches to the regulation and development of digital financial assets,” he said.
Binance’s Eastern Europe division director, Gleb Kostarev, expressed optimism that Binance’s competence in the crypto market will be well appreciated by the Russian banking community.
“In the sphere of cryptocurrency legislation, we are on the eve of a global transformation.” Binance, as the world’s largest cryptocurrency ecosystem, has a proven track record of engaging with regulators, according to Kostarev.
Binance is well-known for its tight collaboration with state-backed Russian groups as well as local blockchain activists.
Binance donated its nonfungible token (NFT) platform to the Russian State Hermitage Organization in 2021, assisting the museum in raising approximately $440,000 through an NFT auction of tokenized artefacts. As part of a Russian crypto lobby organisation in 2020, Binance executives were also campaigning for the crypto industry’s adoption.
Disclaimer: These are the writer’s opinions and should not be considered investment advice. Readers should do their own research.
