Leading Eastern European Exchange Exmo Sells Business in Russia, Belarus – Exmo, a major Eastern European exchange, has stated that its digital asset business in Russia and Belarus will be sold. The “difficult choice” was made in order to prevent jeopardizing the company’s global expansion aspirations by working in these nations, according to the company. Western sanctions have targeted both countries in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Moreover, our Russian UBO, Eduard Bark, is quitting the firm, surrendering his stake as a reaction to one of our directors, Serhii Zhdanov,” Exmo noted. “Kazakhstan clients were also included as part of the deal,” the press release continued, “because a new team is based in Kazakhstan.”
Exmo.com’s user agreement was recently updated to state that inhabitants of Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan will no longer be onboarded. The exchange also informed traders that on the Exmo.com platform, pairs with the Russian currency have been stopped since April 15, 2022.
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Exmo employs approximately 200 individuals and has offices in the United Kingdom, Poland, Ukraine, the United States, Lithuania, and Cyprus, according to its website. “As a firm, we are very optimistic about the future of our business and believe that the new structure is commercially feasible and sustainable,” a statement noted.
Exmo is offering its crypto exchange business in Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan to the owner of a Russia-based software development company, one of the vendors that has provided engineering services to the exchange for the past three years, according to the announcement, which did not name the new entity.
According to the Russian business news portal RBC’s crypto news page, ownership of Exmo’s assets in the three markets was transferred to a company called “ЭКСМO РБК ТОО” (EXMO RBC LLP) on March 31, this year.
Customers in the three jurisdictions will see no changes, according to a spokesman, because the new platform has the authority to use the same branding, technical innovations, and software as well as the official domain Exmo.me. The shift will enable the exchange to collaborate more effectively with payment systems and banks, as well as take an active role in regional cryptocurrency legislation.
According to a company employee quoted in another RBC report published Thursday, Exmo.me has no plans to restrict Russians’ access to cryptocurrency. The exchange would attempt to extend its activities in Russia, according to the spokeswoman, who also stressed:
“We see significant potential in the Russian Federation region and would continue to actively expand the Russian component of the business while adhering to the previous team’s long-term ambitions.”
As Western countries continue to increase sanctions over the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, crypto enterprises operating in the Russian market are facing increasing limitations, some of which are targeted at eliminating loopholes in the crypto field.
Following the news of Exmo’s separation, Binance, Exmo’s main Russian competitor, said that it will limit services for Russian users in order to comply with the newest EU sanctions.
