3 Months ago, The Financial Times reported that Binance is exiting Russia and selling its business interests in the country to a local company.

As part of Binance's initiative to leave the country, the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange announced on Friday (10 Nov) that they would stop accepting deposits in Russian rubles on Nov 15. Affected users can transfer their funds to CommEx, the local business that bought over Binance's Russian business. 

While this has an effect on Binance's overall profitability, some may argue that its is the right move, given the ethical and moral considerations of doing business with Russia, in the context of their ongoing war with Ukraine. Binance was reported to process transactions and have tied with at least 5 Russian lenders blacklisted by Western powers.

While it is too early to make assumptions on the impact of this move. It is likely to be seen favourably by regulators in Western countries, who have made moves against Binance (eg: SEC in the US). This might be favourable towards Binance in the long term as they improve their relationships with regulators and improve customer sentiments towards the brand (at least in the West).

In the short term however, it might also cause increased volatility in crypto markets as users move assets and/or cash out, and Binance will definitely take a hit in terms of customer base and revenue.