Binance handed over data of a client persecuted for donations to Ukraine to Russia - investigation
The cryptocurrency exchange Binance handed over data of one of its clients to the Russian authorities, which was subsequently used in criminal prosecution over financial assistance to Ukraine. This is stated in a new investigation by the human rights project "First Department".
The authors of the investigation examined documents related to the persecution of Russians for monetary and cryptocurrency transfers in favor of Ukraine. One of the discovered cases, according to their data, shows that Russian agencies received client information directly from Binance, and then used this information to identify the user and build the accusation.
It concerns donations in support of Ukraine. Russian security forces after the start of the full-scale invasion regularly interpret such payments as grounds for criminal cases, in particular under the article on "high treason". Human rights defenders note that dozens of people have already been persecuted and convicted in Russia for similar transfers.
Questions about Binance's cooperation with Russia have arisen before
The current investigation is important because it is not only about the technical ability of Russian authorities to track operations on the blockchain, but about obtaining information that allows linking cryptocurrency operations to a specific user of the exchange.
As early as 2022, reports appeared about contacts between Binance and Rosfinmonitoring. At that time, journalists found out that Russian financial intelligence wanted to receive client data from the exchange, including names and addresses. A Binance representative in Russia agreed to cooperate, according to messages published at the time.
Binance denied having any special arrangements with the Russian authorities. The company stated that, as in other countries, it provides information to law enforcement agencies only upon a proper legal request and reserves the right to refuse requests that do not meet its requirements.
In September 2023, Binance announced a complete exit from the Russian market and the sale of its local business to CommEX. However, the new investigation concerns information about users that the Russian authorities could have obtained during the period of the exchange's operation in the country.
Russia intensified persecution for transfers to Ukraine
According to "First Department", about 10% of known accusations in cases of "high treason", "espionage" and confidential cooperation with a foreign state in 2025 were related to transfers to Ukraine. Human rights defenders noted that Russian agencies track not only bank payments, but also cryptocurrency transactions.
"First Department" itself previously assessed as high the likelihood that Binance cooperated with Russian law enforcement structures, but emphasized the lack of documentary evidence regarding specific cases. The new investigation actually adds to this story a concrete example of the use of client information in criminal prosecution.
Based on materials from: "First Department"
