Binance drops ‘Sber’ and ‘Tinkoff’ names amid US DOJ investigation

The cryptocurrency exchange Binance, for clients of its internal P2P platform, replaced the names of Russian banks’ cards ‘Sber’ and ‘Tinkoff’ with ‘green’ and ‘yellow’ respectively. RBC noted this.

Notably, in the payment systems dropdown there remains a separate ‘Tinkoff’ tab.

On August 22, The Wall Street Journal, citing sources, reported that the U.S. Department of Justice is conducting an investigation into Binance in connection with possible sanctions violations against Russia. Sber and Tinkoff, along with 29 Russian banks, are on the U.S. sanctions list.

According to the exchange’s representatives, cited by the publication, the platform complies with global sanctions regimes and has no ties to banks in the context of P2P servicing.

Earlier in May, media reported that the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Security Division in relation to the parent company — Binance Holdings Ltd. — for possible sanctions violations against Russia.

ForkLog previously examined whether Binance faces secondary sanctions for serving Russian citizens.