Leading Crypto Exchange Exmo Sells Business in Russia, Belarus

Leading Crypto Exchange Exmo Sells Business in Russia, Belarus

 

The U.K.-based crypto exchange Exmo, with an extensive presence in Eastern Europe, is pulling out of Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. The trading platform, Exmo.com, says it’s making the move to avoid jeopardising its expansion plans in other regions. It has decided to stop operating in high-risk markets, and has sold the business to a Russian vendor, which includes rights to the Exmo.me domain and branding. 

Exmo, a major Eastern European exchange, announced earlier this week that it would sell its digital asset business in Russia and Belarus. The company explained the "tough decision" by citing efforts to avoid risking its global expansion plans by working in these countries. Both nations have been targeted by Western sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

"In addition, our Russian UBO, Eduard Bark, is leaving the company, transferring his stake as a part of a response to one of our directors, Serhii Zhdanov," Exmo pointed out. "Kazakhstan clients were also included as a part of the deal, since a new team is based in Kazakhstan," the press release further revealed.

The Exmo.com user agreement has recently been changed to indicate that Russian, Belarusian, and Kazakhstan residents are no longer being onboarded. The exchange also reminded traders that pairs with the Russian ruble on the Exmo.com platform have been disabled since April 15, 2022.

According to its website, Exmo currently maintains offices in the U.K., Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, the U.S., and Cyprus, and employs over 200 people. As a company, "we are very confident and positive about the future of our business and consider the new structure of the business commercially viable and sustainable," a statement noted.

The transfer of the Russian, Belarusian, and Kazakhstan crypto exchange businesses to the owner of a Russia-based software development company, one of the vendors that has been providing engineering services to the exchange for the past three years, the announcement revealed without identifying the new entity.

According to the crypto news page of the Russian business news portal RBC, the ownership of Exmo’s assets in the three markets has been handed over to a company called Exmo RBC LLP on March 31.

A representative elaborated that nothing will change for customers in the three jurisdictions, as the new platform has the rights to use the same branding, software, and technical developments as well as the official domain Exmo.me. The transformation will allow the exchange to work more effectively with payment systems and banks and to actively participate in the regulation of cryptocurrencies in the region.

Another RBC report published on Thursday stated that Exmo.me does not plan to restrict Russians’ access to cryptocurrencies, a company official was quoted as stating. The exchange will also seek to expand its operations in Russia, according to the spokesperson.

"We see great potential in the region of the Russian Federation and will continue to actively develop the Russian part of the business and follow the long-term plans of the previous team."

Crypto businesses working in the Russian market are facing mounting restrictions as Western governments continue to expand sanctions over the ongoing war in Ukraine, some of which are aimed at closing the loopholes in the crypto space. Following the news of the Exmo split, its main competitor in Russia, Binance, announced it was limiting services for Russian users to comply with the latest EU sanctions.