Binance Data Controversy
Binance Shared User Data with Russian Authorities After Publicly Exiting Market
Key Points
Binance provided Russian authorities with a comprehensive data package on Yuri Belenkiy, including his date of birth, address, phone number, passport details, and copies of his Russian passport and Bulgarian residence permit.
The data identified Belenkiy as the recipient of cryptocurrency transfers to wallets linked to Ukrainian fundraising and to a wallet associated with Arkady Babchenko, information later used in a terrorism-financing case.
Yuri Belenkiy was arrested in September 2025 in Russia and remains in pre-trial detention awaiting trial.
Binance publicly said it had fully exited the Russian market in September 2023 and that there was no ongoing revenue-sharing arrangement or option to repurchase the business.
The case notes that roughly $6,500 in cryptocurrency was raised over about a year and routed through Binance-linked wallet addresses, illustrating the scale of donations involved in the authorities’ investigation.
Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, handed Russian authorities detailed personal records on a client later charged with financing terrorism — over roughly $6,500 in donations to Ukrainian causes, according to Reuters. The data included Yuri Belenkiy's passport, address, phone number, and a full history of his crypto transactions.
Belenkiy, a Russian IT professional, was arrested in September 2025 and remains in pre-trial detention. The case has reignited sharp debate over whether Binance's data-sharing with Moscow — even after the exchange claimed a full exit from Russia — violates user privacy and EU law, CoinDesk reported.
What Binance Sent Moscow and When
Binance gave Russian investigators a comprehensive data package on Belenkiy, according to Reuters. It included his date of birth, home address, phone number, passport details, and copies of both his Russian passport and Bulgarian residence permit.
The records also identified Belenkiy as the recipient of crypto transfers linked to Ukrainian fundraising wallets. One wallet was tied to journalist Arkady Babchenko, crypto.news reported. Russian authorities used this trail to build a terrorism-financing case against him.
A $6,500 Donation Trail Used as Terror Evidence
The sums at the center of this case are small. About $6,500 in cryptocurrency was raised over roughly a year and routed through Binance-linked wallet addresses, according to The Crypto Basic. Russian authorities treated those transfers as evidence of terrorism financing.
Belenkiy was arrested in September 2025 and is now in pre-trial detention. He has not been convicted. Critics say the case shows how crypto transaction data, once shared, can be used to criminalize ordinary political donations in authoritarian contexts.
Binance Said It Left Russia — But Kept Sharing Data
Binance announced a full exit from the Russian market in September 2023. The company said it sold its Russian business with no revenue-sharing deal and no option to buy it back. Yet the data transfer to Russian authorities happened after that exit, CoinDesk reported.
Reports describe a working relationship between Binance and Rosfinmonitoring, Russia's financial intelligence unit, dating back to 2021. That arrangement let Russian authorities trace crypto donations and link wallet activity to real identities, according to Reuters.
GDPR Risk Grows as EU Residents' Data Flows to Moscow
Belenkiy held a Bulgarian residence permit, making him an EU resident. Sending his personal data to Russia — a country at war with Ukraine and with different human rights standards — may break GDPR, Europe's strict data privacy law, according to crypto.news. Binance has not publicly addressed that specific legal question.
Binance said it responds only to lawful requests and does not judge the legality of foreign investigations. But legal experts warn that "lawful" in Russia does not meet the bar required under EU law for transferring personal data abroad. The exchange could face regulatory action in Europe if investigators pursue the matter.
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